


"I'll Make You All Perfect"

by River_Nix



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Allura is in heavy denial at first, Allura is the head of Altea Corp, Big Brother Shiro (Voltron), F/M, Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, HUGE misunderstandings, Keith tries to stay calm, Kidnapping, Lotor is a doctor, Lotor is psychotic, M/M, Mutation au, Pidge has a temper, Protective Keith (Voltron), Protective Pidge | Katie Holt, Protective Shiro (Voltron), Shiro can go from calm and mature to protective angry very quickly, mutations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-18
Updated: 2018-11-17
Packaged: 2019-08-25 05:06:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 26,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16654795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/River_Nix/pseuds/River_Nix
Summary: At young ages, Shiro, Keith, and Pidge were introduced the idea that it was the three of them against the world. After being kidnapped as children, they set out to find the mad doctor who experimented on them and killed the rest of their families. Along the way, they discover that more people than originally thought are involved. However, nobody knows the full story. Not until it's too late.





	1. Chapter 1

_ The room was dark, moist, cold, no place for children. Only a sliver of moonlight dare to enter. Rodents of various sizes and diseases scurried across the ground searching for some place to hide as footsteps were heard. The door opened with an audible swish, a shadow looming over the three children in the corner of the room.  _

 

_ One of the children was a 12 year old boy with black hair and pale skin. A scar ran across his nose, one of many that littered across his body. A sign for what he’s gone through. His stance is firm, his gray eyes narrowed, and a scowl adorned his lips. Behind him, the other two children huddled together. A 7 year old boy with black hair, indigo eyes, and white skin cuddled a 6 year old girl with brown hair, light brown eyes, and white skin to his chest. While his gaze ranged from fear to determination, hers ranged from anger to challenging.  _

 

_ “What do you think you’re doing, Shiro?” The sultry voice that echoed through the cold room sounded playful and amused at first, but Shiro knew better, could hear the underlying warning.  _

 

_ “You’re not getting to them, Lotor.” Shiro clenched his first and took a challenging step forward, making sure that he didn’t stray too far from the two behind him.  _

 

_ “Oh, but it’s training time. So, I’m afraid I need them.” The young girl scoffed in disgust at the smile that Lotor sent them while the boy cuddling her clutched her closer to his chest.  _

 

_ “No. I won’t let you. I may of not been able to save Matt or any of the other children, but you won’t get Keith or Katie.” Lotor raised an eyebrow before shaking his head and clicking his tongue. _

 

_ “Then I suppose I’ll just take them.” The gun that Lotor whips out is pointed at Shiro before the doctor takes aim and fires.  _

 

_ “Shiro, no!” Before the bullet could make contact with the oldest child, Keith pushed him out of the way and held his hand in front of his face. It’s silent after that, as the bullet merely bounced off his hand, leaving only a bruise behind.  _

 

_ “Keith!” Katie rushed up to Keith as Shiro glared at Lotor, the doctor only staring back and forth between his gun and Keith.  _

 

_ Shiro took this as an opportunity to rush forward and tackle Lotor. The two wrestled on the ground for a few moments before Shiro delivered a swift, powerful knee towards Lotor’s stomach area. The resounding crack and pained wail that followed alerted the three that a bone’s just been broken.  _

 

_ “You broke his rib! Nice work Shiro!” Shiro kept his eyes on Lotor, but thanked Katie for the compliment.  _

 

_ As the doctor groaned and whimpered, bringing a hand up to apply pressure to his wound, Katie rushed forward to grab Shiro’s hand.  _

 

_ “Let’s get out of here!” Shiro nodded and sprinted out of the room, Katie’s and Keith’s hands gripped in his own.  _

 

_ “Please tell me you know the way out.” Shiro didn’t verbally respond, just nodded before giving Katie a job.   _

 

_ “You’ll have to get through the doors though, Katie. They’re password protected.” Katie nodded her head aggressively as the three kept running.  _

 

_ Like Shiro said, they encountered many password locked doors and staircases. Fortunately, Katie was able to hack the door codes in the span of about 5-8 minutes. When the three were finally outside, they all flinched back. Even though the moonlight was gentle compared to the sun, it still burned their eyes since they haven’t seen proper light in years.  _

 

_ “Where do we go now, Shiro?” The oldest child looked down at Keith, a sad smile on his face.  _

 

_ “We’ll try going to the police. But without any evidence, they might not believe us.” Keith nodded, squeezing Katie’s hand when she growled.  _

 

_ “Figures. The police don’t protect anyone these days.” Shiro nodded with a frown before leading Keith and Katie forward, towards what he hoped was a place where they could get help.  _

 

_ When they arrived at a grocery store and gotten help from an officer, Shiro had proven to be right. The police didn’t believe that Doctor Lotor, of all people, would be kidnapping families and experimenting on children. Instead, the report submitted stated: the missing children have been found and led to believe that a public figure was responsible for their kidnapping and murder of their parents. So Lotor didn’t kidnap them, but for some reason, their kidnapper wanted them to blame the doctor.  _

 

_ Shiro, Keith, and Katie were then sent to different orphanages. Shiro was sent with a foster family whose mother was a doctor and whose father was a therapist. Keith was sent with a foster family whose mother figure was an alcoholic and the father was never home, always travelling for business. Katie was sent to one where the father was a computer scientist and the mother was a stay at home mom.   _

 

_ For Keith and Katie, the first family only lasted a few months before the children were delivered back to the orphanage. Katie for her anger issues and Keith because the mother didn’t want to have to deal with a traumatized child. The only good thing about the whole ordeal was that Katie was able to work through school a lot quicker than most because of her intelligence and Keith was able to test the true capacity of his resilience since most of his other foster families ignored him. Shiro was the only one who’s first foster family actually worked for him. However, that didn’t mean that he wanted to stay with them. When he turned 18, he moved out, changed his last name back to his originally family one, and adopted Keith and Katie, who now went by Pidge (since they wanted to go non binary). In addition to adopting them, Shiro also encouraged the two to keep their original last names so that they could remember their real families. There were no arguments against the idea.  _

 

_ With the three united once again, they vowed to take Lotor down. Of course, it had to be done in secret, lest the police get involved and they get themselves in trouble. In the eyes of the public, they were the three survivors who were still healing from the trauma of being kidnapped and stuck close to each other for emotional support. They only saw what the three wanted them to see.  _

 

_ First, there was Takashi Shirogane (though he went by Shiro) a 23 year old mechanic who was mature, friendly, protective, and responsible. Next, there was Keith Kogane, a 18 year old who was training to become a police officer so he could actually help people. He was quiet, caring, impulsive, and loyal. Lastly, there was Pidge Holt, a 17 year old college student who was on her way to becoming a computer scientist. They were logical, kind, unpredictable, and sometimes harsh.  _

 

_ Nobody knew about Shiro’s inhumane strength, the true stretch of Pidge’s intelligence, nor the resilience that Keith’s body had when taking damage. The effects of Lotor’s experiments on them remained only between the three, not ever being spoken about outloud. Not even when they were children, telling the police about their kidnapping. When doctor appointments were necessary, Pidge made sure to plan ahead: hiding the chips in their mind, the serum flowing through Shiro’s muscles, and the peculiar structure of Keith’s bone and skin from the monitors.  _

 

_ At first, Lotor was their only target. They watched every move he made, every person he associated with, every patient he had. Yet no matter how much they tried, they couldn't save the four families that would eventually go missing, never to be seen again. That changed when Alfor, head of Altea Corp., one of the most successful technology companies, died of cancer and left his daughter, Allura. Initially, Shiro, Keith, and Pidge had been empathetic. They knew what it was like to lose a family member before the time was right. But that feeling quickly changed to fear when Allura started dating Lotor.  _

 

_ “He could hurt her. We have to make sure she stays safe.” Had been Shiro’s first reaction. Keith and Pidge agreeing wholeheartedly. However, that feeling changed after 3 months.  _

 

_ “Shiro, people are still disappearing and the police are even farther than they were before.” Shiro agreed with Keith before revealing a horrifying thought.  _

 

_ “Allura must be helping him. She could be covering for him.” At first, Keith and Pidge were in slight denial. Allura was responsible and a good person. She wouldn’t do such a thing.  _

 

_ As time passed and people kept disappearing, that thought dwindled until Pidge finally snapped.  _

 

_ “Shiro’s right! Lotor hasn't been caught because she’s helping him!” It had been hard to accept, but it needed to be. _

 

_ “From now on, Allura and her employees are involved. We’ll need to monitor them too.” That belief is what brings us to today.  _


	2. Shiro's POV

**Shiro POV:**

I pinch the bridge of my nose and sigh as I watch Keith get lectured by Pidge on this concept called common sense. I mean, did he really think he’d be able to jump from a window ladder onto the top of a dumpster without slipping off? 

 

“Come on, give me a break Pidge! I’ve done riskier things in the past!” Apparently he does. 

 

“I don’t care! The fact that you now have a bruise the size of a dinner plate on your back gives me more than a right to lecture you!” I smile as Keith blushes and looks down. Yeah, what he lacks in common sense, he makes up in being humble instead of prideful. 

 

Actually, scratch that. That’s only in some situations. Mostly when it’s Pidge or I doing the lecturing. 

 

“Ok, fine. Got it, lesson learned, never going to do that again. Unless it’s an emergency.” I turn my head and see Pidge have an internal debate. I myself am fine with Keith’s answer. Pidge though? They worry about our safety to an extreme. 

 

“Fine, since that’s the only compromise I’m going to get out of you until you break your spine.” I snort. Even if Keith managed to find something strong enough to break his spine, Pidge wouldn’t be able to rain him on on being risky with his body. 

 

“Thank you, Pidge. All jokes aside though, what made you risk that maneuver? Thought you said nobody was following you.” Keith turns towards me and sighs. Uh oh, did we make a mistake? 

 

“I did and I meant it. Nobody saw me enter the room, but some cleaners would’ve seen me exit it if I had gone out the normal way. Took me by surprise and I had to improvise.” I frown and look to Pidge. Thought they had messed with the cleaning schedule? 

 

“Pidge, what happened?” They frown themselves and shrug. 

 

“I’m not sure. I know I rearranged the cleaning schedule and gave Keith enough time to get in and out. Maybe last minute changes were made after?” I look towards the ground and rub my chin. 

 

‘Possible, but not confirmed.’ I look back towards the two I consider my younger siblings before nodding my head. It’s the only explanation we have. 

 

“Alright, we’ll just go off from that and be more wary in the future. Keith, were you able to get pictures of the files?” He nods before removing his watch and handing it over to Pidge. 

 

“Here. Got everything that was in his room.” Pidge nods before calling us to the monitor room. 

 

“One would think that Allura would have better security for her workers. Guess not.” I barely manage to stop myself from scowling. Allura, daughter of Alfor and Dr. Lotor’s girlfriend. If only she knew what her boyfriend really did to some of his patients. 

 

“It could be that she places too much trust in them.” I shrug at Keith’s suggestion before focusing on Pidge’s work. 

 

“Ok, let’s take a look. Just to review: Keith snuck into the home of James Griffin, one of Allura’s main security guards. We’ve already got as much information as we could on Coran, her father’s but now her advisor. Hunk, her main engineer or project planer. And finally, Lance, her investigator/intelligence collector. We’re searching for her ties to Lotor and his experiments in hopes of bringing him and her down.” I nod and look to Keith. 

 

“That’s everyone we should need. Now, let’s focus on going over that information. Hopefully, we can figure out Lotor’s next targets before he gets to them.” Keith nods at me before looking at Pidge, raising a hand to rub at their shoulders. 

 

“You can do this, Pidge.” Pidge reaches up and grabs Keith’s hand, offering what I assume is a reassuring squeeze back. 

 

“I hope so Keith, I hope so.” I walk forward and bring them both into a somewhat awkward side hug. 

 

“Neither Lotor nor Allura will get away with what they’ve done to us or any of the other families.” I get two grim, but determined looks in return. 

 

“We already know that he’s figured out a pattern. Fit, around the ages of 4-6, and intelligent individuals. He meets them through the hospital that he works at, then abducts the family in a span of a week or two later.” Memories of my own abduction and meeting Keith and Pidge come to mind. 

 

“He detains them, makes sure their perfectly healthy for his experiments, then sends them through hell.” I nod with narrowed eyes at Pidge before turning sad eyes at Keith, who’s voice is shaking as he speaks. 

 

“Only for the youths though, he kills the adults.” I nod again before gripping Pidge’s shoulder as they shake in anger. 

 

“If the children don’t survive, then he does nothing to help them. Just leaves them to die, slowly and painfully. Just like how his death should be.” I sigh. 

 

“Pidge, we’ve talked about this. We’re not going to go any lower than we already are.” We’re already going to kill him, Allura, and most of her close employees. That itself is already bad. 

 

“I know, I know! It’s just-I’m still so angry.” I nod in understanding. I want nothing more than for Lotor and Allura to experience first hand what they’ve put people through. 

 

But, that’s not how my parents raised me (while they were alive, at least). They raised me to do the right thing, to take care of people. I’m already breaking part of that promise by murdering. I can’t break anymore by adding torture. 

 

“We all are, but that’s not how our parents taught us.” I turn to smile at Keith. His father died in a fire, so he was left with just his mother. When she was killed, he lost everything. At least Pidge and I had both of our parents (and for Pidge, an older sibling). He was already suffering from a loss. 

 

“Yeah, yeah, I guess.” I note the tiredness in Pidge’s voice and decide that it’s time for all of us to get some sleep. 

 

“Alright, that’s enough for today. Both of you, brush your teeth, wash your face, then to bed. I mean it. No late night training or staying up on the computer.” I make sure that my stern gaze doesn’t waver until I have both of their words that they’ll go straight to bed after cleaning up. Which, mind you, is very difficult considering that they're both capable of really cute puppy eyes. 

 

“Alright, alright. We get it dad, fine.” I roll my eyes fondly at the nickname. Throughout all of the years that I’ve taken care of them, I’ve always had that nickname. 

 

“Good, my child, cause I won’t repeat myself.” I playfully glare at Keith, who snorts and claims that he’s legally an adult. To that I say: “Since when have I really cared for what was legal?” 

 

After the children are in bed, I lay awake in my room and think about how far we’ve gotten. 

 

“Don’t worry mom, dad, we’ll make sure Lotor can’t hurt anyone ever again.” I adjust my position so I’m comfortable in my bed before closing my eyes and falling asleep. Being a mechanic during the day and a spy-type guy at night really wears a person out. 

 

_ I open my eyes and yawn, squinting a bit as a bright light hovers above my head.  _

 

_ “What?” What’s going on?” I try to lift my arms, but they’re tied down. No matter how much I struggled, how hard I pull, I can’t get them lose.  _

 

_ “Who’s there? What do you want?” I turn my head side to side, looking for a door, a window…...any sign of entry or exit.  _

 

_ “Calm down child, it’s all going to be ok.” That voice! No, no, he can’t be back! No more! _

 

_ “No!” I really start to struggle now. So much so that the friction from the rope has burned marks into my skin, not that I’m really able to register the pain through my panic.  _

 

_ “Hush, hush!” I still as he hisses, scared out of my mind.  _

 

_ “I just came to tell you that I’ve brought you some new friends.” My eyes widen. More children? He brought more children here?  _

 

_ “What?! No!” Those children won’t survive! I’ve barely survived! And they’re going ot be younger than me, I just know it! _

 

_ “Now, now, be grateful. Afterall, now you won’t be lonely.” I can feel the tears drip down my cheeks as more voices fill the room. A few sound angry, a few sound scared, and there’s so many…..oh no.  _

 

_ “Shiro, meet your new friends: Matt, Katie, Keith, and Romelle.” Some more lights turn on and I’m greeted with the sight of four more children strapped down onto four different chairs.  _

 

_ “Lotor, let them go! They won’t survive!” I struggle to get up again, shivering when I hear a dark chuckle.  _

 

_ “Oh, have some hope Shiro. You survived, maybe they will too.” I shake my head, tears falling rapidly down my cheeks.  _

 

_ I continue to try and get up, try to help them escape, try to do something! All I can manage to do is apologize over and over again as they cry and scream for their mommy and daddy.  _

 

_ “Don’t worry little ones, I’ll take good care of you from now on.” Lies. All lies.  _

 

_ “Liar! DOn’t listen to him! He’s lying to you!” All I hear in response is crying before a gunshot goes off. Followed by another five more. No…… _

 

_ “Mommy! Daddy!” I try to look behind me and regret it when I manage.  _

 

_ Sitting motionless in their chairs are, who I presume to be, the parents of these new children. All shot from behind the head, their blood dripping down their clothes….oh god, I’m going to be sick.  _

 

_ “How could you?! How could you?! No!” I struggles and start to cry. I’ve seen so much blood, so many people dying, so much….too much…..I can’t take it anymore! _

 

I shoot up and pant harshly, bringing up my hand to swipe across my cheeks. The tears that have left my eyes drip onto the covers, making various wet spots appear. 

 

“Keith! Pidge!” I call out and throw the covers off my body. I don’t care if it was just a nightmare or not, I have to check on them! I need to make sure they’re ok! 

 

I jump out of bed and sprint to the door, opening it just in time to see Pidge and Keith running to my room. Thank god for wide hallways and our rooms being close together. 

 

“Shiro! What happened?! Were you crying?! Was it a nightmare?!” I don’t answer Pidge’s question, only continue to pant before bending down and bit and crushing both of them to my chest.

 

‘They’re here, Shiro.’ I bury my face in Pidge’s hair and bring my hand up to run my fingers along Keith’s arms. ‘They’re alive. They’re breathing. Lotor can’t get to them.’ 

 

“Shiro, talk to us, was it another nightmare?” I nod into Pidge’s hair before taking a deep breath and looking up. 

 

“Sorry guys. I don’t know why they’re still so bad. One would think that after all these years…..they’d lessen in intensity, you know?” Keith sends me an encouraging smile while Pidge sighs and rubs their forehead. Am I about to be lectured? 

 

“Shiro, that’s not how the human mind works. Time can’t erase memories, no matter how much time has passed. You never got closer, none of us did. And Lotor’s still out there, still killing people. Of course your mind’s going to react to that.” I nod at Pidge’s explanation before looking up as Keith stands. 

 

“Come on guys, we’re all sleeping in the living room. Grab your pillows, I’ll go grab the large blankets.” I smile and stand up, bringing Pidge up with me as Keith rushes back to his room to grab his own pillow before rushing to the living room. 

 

“Come on. Let’s not keep Blades waiting.” I giggle at Pidge’s nickname for Keith, briefly forgetting what was in my nightmare as memories on how we gave each others nicknames came to mind. 

 

Pidge was give the nickname “Little Wolverine” because they are small and can be perceived as cute, but also really aggressive and deadly. Not to mention cautious of everybody besides Keith or I. Keith got his nickname from his talent and fascination in bladed weaponry. Seriously, he’s got great wrist control and body awareness. For me, besides “dad”, I also have “Bear”, since I’m really strong and protective of Keith and Pidge. Well, the most protective. We’re all protective of each other in general. 

 

“Shiro! You’re pillow?” I shake my head to regain focus and nod, jogging back into my room to grab my pillow so I can meet Keith and Pidge in the living room. 

 

Upon arriving, I see one of the blankets laid out across the floor and pidge helping Keith to arrange a second one so we can use it as some covers. 

 

“Come here Shiro, something tells me it’ll make you feel better if you’re in the center.” I smile and speed walk to my reserved spot. I have some of the best younger siblings ever. 

 

“Thanks guys.” I lay down and holds out my arms, waiting until Keith and Pidge are settled comfortably beside me before wrapping my arms around them. 

 

“Blades, Little Wolverine, I love you guys.” I mumble before closing my eyes and drifting to sleep. 

 

What sets my mind at ease is when I hear sleepy mumbles of: “Love you too Bear” The rest fo the night, I’m happy to report, is nightmare free. 


	3. Keith's POV

**Keith POV:**

I wake up and groan before opening my eyes and snuggling closer to Shiro. Great, Another day to endure, another day of going to a school full of strangers and teachers who have no idea on how to really defend themselves. Much less teach us how to defend ourselves. 

 

“Shiro, Pidge, wake up.” I gently move Shiro’s arm and sit up, wincing a bit as my spine cracks from sleeping on the floor all night. 

 

“Guys, come on. I need to know what you guys want for breakfast.” Shiro can’t cook for his life and the only thing Pidge knows how to make is toast and burnt eggs. Maybe some tea and coffee, but that’s pretty much it. So, I’ve taken the role as the house cook. 

 

“Guys, if you don’t answer, I’m making something random.” All I recieve is a whine and a grunt. Really, why do I even try? 

 

“Alright, random breakfast it is then.” I stand up and stretch out a bit before making my way to the kitchen, making sure not to step on Shiro or Pidge on my way. 

 

‘Hmmm, let’s see…..’ Once I make it into the kitchen, I head for our pantry and search for inspiration. I made toast yesterday and omelets the day before that, so how about…..

 

“Guess we’re doing scones today.” I pull out the scone mix and gather all of the needed ingredients. When I’m sure I’ve got everything, I preheat the oven, wash my hands,  then set to work. 

 

The process itself doesn’t take too long, just a little of water here, some flour there, a pinch of salt, some milk…..

 

“Any chance I could get you to make me coffee while those bake?” I turn to face the doorway where Shiro’s leaning against it, Pidge slouching beside him. 

 

“I suppose, since I really don’t trust you with the coffee machine.” I smirk at the indignant look he gives me before lightly flouring the table and beginning to knees the dough.

After that, it’s just a matter of splitting the dough up, slightly covering the pieces with some eggs, and placing them in the oven. There, that’s done. Now for the coffee. 

 

“I’m putting tons of milk in your Pidge, you don’t need so much caffeine today.” I heat up some water and grab the coffee beans as Pidge starts to whine. Here we go. 

 

“Oh come on Keith! I’ve been drinking it for years! My body’s used to it.” I shake my head before pouring the beans into the boiling water and turning to narrow my eyes. 

 

“I don’t care if we switch places and you become the resilient one, I won’t allow you to become addicted to caffeine.” With that said, I turn around and take the steaming hot coffee to the sink. I place it on the counter then grab two mugs and get the milk back out. 

 

For Shiro, I fill it about ¾ way, then pour milk into the remaining ¼ and mix together. For Pidge, they get about ⅓ of a cup of coffee and the rest being milk. 

 

“Alright, here you go. We’ve still got some time on the scones, so get comfortable at the table.” I nod as Shiro and Pidge take their seats at our kitchen table before walking back over to the counter to make myself some tea from the hot water left over. 

 

“You guys got a busy day today?” I shrug. 

 

“I’m not sure. We’re supposed to have a guest speaker in class, so that should be interesting.” I allow some sarcasm to leak through my voice at that. 

 

“I’m sure it won’t be so bad. Remember, I’ll help you study for your tests if you zone out because the guest is too boring.” I chuckle at that. Classic Pidge. 

 

“Oh, come now you two. The guest speaker may no be the best, but I still think it’s nice that they’re willing to make time to help teach the next generation officers.” I shrug. Shiro’s look on the positive could make this day more bearable. 

 

“I’m just glad that I can take online classes. I wouldn’t be able to sit through a guest speaker without losing my shit with impatience.” I scoff at that. It’s already happened. 

 

“Pidge, you’ve already done that a few times. That’s one of the reasons the school board insisted you strictly remain online.” And Shiro’s read my mind. Not too surprising. 

 

“True, true.” And that’s the end of that. 

 

When it’s time for the scones to come out, it’s about 7:30AM. Huh, we woke up early today. Nevertheless, the scones are quickly devoured before we all get properly dressed, washed up, and are out the door. It’s about 8:00AM when we’re on the road since we had brief discussions about Allura and Lotor before we got ready. 

 

“Alright, Keith, you’re out of school at 12:50PM, correct?” I nod my head. Normally, class goes from 8:30AM-12:00PM, but since there’s a guest speaker, the school wanted to give us an extra 50 minutes for class. 

 

“After that, he’ll come get me and we’ll head out to grab some lunch to bring back to you.” Shiro nods before turning into the driveway for school. 

 

“Alright. Good luck Keith. Try not to zone out too much, I know it’ll be tempting.” I chuckle and ruffle Pidge’s hair before wishing Shiro goodbye as well and stepping out. 

 

Checking the time, I’ve got about 15 minutes before class starts. Lovely. I can read and take a few more notes on the articles Pidge sent me on different guns and other long range artillery weapons. I take a seat on a picnic table in front of my classroom and get two pages worth of notes down before we’re called in. 

 

“Mr. Kogane! Good morning! I see you’re prepared for today.” I look up and nod, smiling shyly at my teacher. 

 

“I wouldn't say for today specifically, Mrs. Shay. Just getting myself ready for our weapons unit.” Mrs. Shay isn’t a bad teacher, she’s a good balance of kind but stern. However, I wouldn’t say I’d advocate for her teaching us how to defend ourselves or how to spot suspicious behavior. That area of teaching is questionable. 

 

“At least you’re taking notes of some kind, Mr. Kogane. There are those in class that just try to rely on memory alone.” I shrug at that before walking to my seat in the back of the room. 

 

When the clock shows exactly 8:30AM, Mrs. Shay closes the door and walks to the front of the room. She clears her throat before speaking, strong and firm, not screachy or high pitch like some of my previous teachers. 

 

“Good morning class! As you all know, we have a guest speaker today! I expect you all to take good notes on the presentation since he’s graced us with his time. Feel free to ask questions about anything brought up, but try to ask them at appropriate times. Remember, revisiting a previous section isn’t a bad thing.” I nod before pulling my hood up and subtly glancing around the room. 

 

My class isn’t as big as one would think. Including myself, there’s only about 15-17 people, excluding Mrs. Shay. 

 

“Now then, everyone, please welcome our guest speaker: Altea Corps. Top investigator, Lance McClain!” My eyes widen at that. Who now?! 

 

“Good morning everyone!” My eyes snap up and I have to cover my mouth to stop myself from gasping. Lance McClain is our guest speaker?! Oh boy…..

 

“Good morning, Mr. McClain!” I gulp and uncover my mouth before ducking my head a bit, that way I can still see him clearly but he can’t see my face. 

 

“Formalities, formalities, just Lance is fine. Now, before I get into my presentation, I’d like to know all of your names. I feel it’s only fair.” A few chuckles are heard throughout the room are heard before name’s are being told. 

 

Before I know it, it’s my turn and everybody in the room is looking at me. Great. 

 

“And you, guy with the red hoodie on? What’s your name?” I take a deep breath and shut my eyes, before breathing out and raising my head, fixing Lance with a blank stare. 

 

“Keith Kogane.” I bite my lip when Lance’s eyes widen, body visibly tensing. 

 

“Mr. McClain, is something wrong?” I stare at Lance for a few moments before hearing the him speak. 

 

“One of the survivors.” I blush at being called out before nodding curtly and looking down again, focusing on my notes instead of him. 

 

After that, I don’t even remember what happened. Lance snapped out of his trance and proceeded with his presentation, but after that, it’s all a blur. After all, it’s not everyday you get called out in front of your entire class on being a survivor from a kidnapping and then having memories about that tragedy come up. 

 

“Alright class! Let’s all thank Lance for his time here today and I’ll see you next week!” I shake my head to get rid of some of those haunting thoughts before packing up. 

 

“Mr. Kogane, could you please stay after class? I wish to speak with you.” I sigh out but nod my head. Might as well not look any more suspicious. 

 

On my way to Mrs. Shay’s desk, looks up pity or curiosity are thrown my way. The curious looks I can deal with, but the pitiful ones? I can’t even-not without getting annoyed. 

 

“Yes, Mrs. Shay?” She smiles sadly at me before looking at the door and holding her finger up, a sign that this is meant to be private and she’s waiting for everyone else to leave. 

 

When everyone’s out of the room, except for Lance, she focuses back on me before gesturing for me to take a seat. I nod my head and sit across from here, looking down at my lap and gripping the bottom of my chair. 

 

“Mr. Kogane, I noticed that after Lance’s comment, you spaced out. Is everything alright?” I sneak a glance towards Lance before looking straight at Mrs. Shay. 

 

“Health wise, yes ma'am. However, Mr. McClain, I didn’t appreciate being called out like that.” I look towards Lance and try my best to make sure my eyes don’t narrow, only remain blank, void of emotion. 

 

“I’m terribly sorry for that, Mr. Kogane. It wasn’t my intention to put you in the spotlight like that. It’s just….recently, we’ve been asked to assist in the investigation regarding the missing families and-well, you just reminded me of that.” I resist the urge to roll my eyes at the look of pity he sends me. 

 

“Regardless, it was insensitive and I have no excuse. I apologize.” I bite the inside of my cheek and nod. 

 

“All is forgiven.” I’m lying through my teeth, but he’s fooled, so there’s no issue.

 

“Thank you, Mr. Kogane. I was afraid I’d have to give you a bouquet before you accepted my apology.” I blush and turn to give Mrs. Shay a ‘who is this guy?’ look. 

 

“Uuuuuh, as nice as that is, I don’t think that’d be very effective with Mr. Kogane. It’s hard to get him to accept gifts.” I smile, thankful that Mrs. Shay can come up with a convincing excuse. 

 

“Oh, alright. I’ll take note of that.” I turn back to nod my head at Lance before checking the time and standing up abruptly. 

 

“Mrs. Shay, Mr. McClain, I’m sorry to rush this, but I must go pick my younger sibling up from the library.” Mrs. Shay nods in understanding before shooing me out of the room. 

 

“Yes, yes, go, go, do not keep the poor child waiting.” I smile at her warm look before nodding my head and dashing out of the room before Lance can say goodbye. I really can’t handle him talking to me anymore. My nerves are already at their limit with him. 

 

“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god…..” I whisper to myself as I speed walk to the library. 

 

“I can’t believe it…..they’re involved now?” I pinch the bridge of my nose before hustling through the library doors and going to Pidge’s spot. 

 

“Pidge, come on. I need to tell you something important.” Pidge looks up and opens their mouth to say something but I cut them off. 

 

“You’re going to yell so I’d really appreciate if we weren’t in the library.” The urgency in my voice must convince them because they’re quickly dragging me out of the library and down the street to our favorite sandwich shop. 

 

“What is it Keith?” I look around to make sure no one’s too close to us before leaning down to whisper in their ear. 

 

“Lance McClain was our guest speaker today.” I back up a bit and wait a moment before raising my hands when Pidge’s gaze snaps towards me. 

 

“What?!” I shush them quickly, fearing that they’ll attract the wrong type of attention if I let them continue. 

 

“I know, I know, it’s bad. What’s even worse is that he called me out on being on of the survivors.” Pidge’s face goes from disbelieving, to shocked, then seething. 

 

“How dare he!” I gulp as Pidge grabs my jacket sleeve and hauls me to the sandwich shop. I feel bad for the person working the register today. 

 

After we order (well, more like I order since the cashier was a bit too scared of Pidge), we speed walk to the mechanic shop that Shiro works at. 

 

“We are so telling him.” I nod.

 

“I never thought that was in question.” Pidge nods back at me before we’re entering. The shop manager waves at us, but frowns lightly when Pidge simply walks past him. Poor guys. 

 

“Is Pidge alright?” I manage a convincing smile and nod.

 

“Yeah. Someone just pointed out that we were the survivors in a public place today. That was a bit much to handle.” I look away as the look of pity washes over the managers face. 

 

“Well, I’m awful sorry about that. Today’s not so busy, so if you want to talk to Shiro about it, then you guys can go home. I owe him for helping in the shop so late last week anyway.” I smile and nod. 

 

“Thank you sir, I think that would really help.” I receive a pat on the shoulder before following Pidge, who’s already got Shiro hyped up. Great, I can’t leave these two alone for 5 minutes. 

 

“What?!” I wince and walk towards the two slowly as not to startle anyone. 

 

“Yeah! And then that jerk had the nerve to call Keith out!” When I’m standing about 2ft away, I clear my throat. 

 

“To be fair, he did apologize.” I receive two unimpressed looks in response before Shiro shakes his head and wipes his hands. 

 

“We’re talking about this at home.” Pidge and I nod before sprinting after Shiro as he runs to his car. 


	4. Pidge's POV

**Pidge POV:**

“So, what’s our plan of attack?” I tilt my head before taking a bite out of my sandwich. An aggressive one at that. 

 

“Well, obviously, we need to be more cautious now. If Allura and her crew are joining the investigation, then no doubt they’re going to mess with the evidence to keep themselves from being exposed.” I nod and look to Keith, who’s nervously nibbling on his sandwich. 

 

“Keith, did Lance mention any leads or something like that? Anyone specifically who’s involved? Or did he just keep it vague?” I wince as Keith shrinks in on himself at my tone. 

 

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve grown up liking that I can intimidate people even though I’m short and mostly brains. It gives me a sense of security. The whole ‘I can protect myself if I need to’ feeling is nice. Here though, watching Keith act nervous around me, it breaks my heart. He knows I’d never hurt him, just like I know he’s never hurt me. Years of being raised in shitty foster homes does something to a person though. Especially a person who’s gone through what we have. 

 

“He just kept it vague. Said that ‘we’ have been asked to join the investigation. So, I just guessed that he was talking about his team.” I nod my head and take another bite of my sandwich, taking notice on how Keith uses air quotes for the ‘we’ part. 

 

“In that case, I’ll see if I can hack into any files of Altea Corp. That’ll tell us a few things.” Shiro and Keith nod at me before Shiro finishes his sandwich and stand up. 

 

“Alright. Let’s start looking then. The sooner we start, the less time we’re giving them to mess with the investigation.” I nod and hurry to finish my sandwich. 

 

Once we’re all done and cleaned up, I sprint to the monitor room and plop in my seat. After typing in a few passcodes and getting through a few firewalls, I pull up all of the files that Altea Corp. has been sent regarding the missing families. 

 

“Ok, let’s see…...so far, it looks like nothing’s been erased. Of course, I can’t be sure until I look through the archive history, but for now, everything looks good.” I pull up one of the first files and scan through it, noting with disgust the detail put into how the bodies were found at the disposal sights. 

 

“Alright, good to know that, at the very least, the police are aware of the murders.” I scan through a few more pages of the report before going on to the next one. 

 

This continues until I reach a familiar name, one that has Shiro tearing up and Keith gasping. 

 

“Adam.” Shiro’s voice is so quiet that, were it not just the three of us, we wouldn't of heard.

 

“Shiro, you shouldn't have to read this again.” I turn in my chair and nod, watching with sad eyes as Shiro covers his eyes with his hand as Keith rubs his back. 

 

“Shiro, I can skip over this section if you want?” Shiro shakes his head at me before focusing forward, eyes narrowed and determined. 

 

“No. We need to go through all of these to make sure nothing’s been tampered with. The future lives of different families depend on it.” I sigh and nod, not completely agreeing, but understanding his reasoning behind it. 

 

If he actually starts crying though, I’m exiting the files and dragging him out of the room. Families be damned, I am not seeing my older brother cry. 

 

“Guys, something’s wrong.” I nod at Keith’s claim before going back to the main file page. 

 

“Yeah, our files are missing.” I do another quick search through, just to make sure we didn’t accidently scan over them, before huffing in frustration. 

 

“Looks like Allura is one step ahead of us.” I turn around when Keith rests a hand on my chair and raise an eyebrow when he shakes his head. 

 

“That doesn’t make a lot of sense though. Why would she only delete our files? We’re survivors, escapees,  it’d be a waste of time.” I consider his point for a moment before offering a solution. 

 

“Maybe she knows we’re onto her since Lance visited your class.” I immediately regret that statement. Keith looks down guiltily before I raise my hands up and clarify. 

 

“That’s hardly your fault! From what you’ve told us, you only said your name and how you didn’t like being called out! You didn’t expose anything!” I can tell he doesn’t really believe me, but the smile he sends me makes me feel a bit less guilty. 

 

“In any case, we need to move quickly. Pidge, see if you can find out who the last person to access these files were.” I nod and turn back to the screen, clicking through a few useless pages before pulling up the archive history. 

 

“Ok, let’s see….we’ve got…..Captain Iverson, not surprising…..Allura herself, Coran, then Allura again…...and laaaaaast…..” I scroll down before narrowing my eyes and turning to face Keith and Shiro. 

 

“Looks like Lance’s got some explaining to do.” I point towards the screen and direct the attention to the time that he visited the archive. 

 

“Log says he accessed the files at 1:10PM, spent about 15 minutes, then logged off. How much time does it take to find and delete files?” Keith and Shiro look at each other people Shiro glares at the screen and Keith rubs his arm. 

 

“I’m sorry guys.” I sigh and scoot towards Keith, taking his hand in my own. 

 

“It’s not your fault.” I rub his knuckles before looking up at Shiro, who’s rubbing Keith’s back while continuing to glare at the screen. 

 

“They’re right Keith, Lance shouldn’t of opened his big mouth. For now, let’s see if he was stupid enough to not delete the backup files on the drive. Pidge?” I squeeze Keith’s hand before letting go and turning to face my screen. 

 

As it turns out, Lance was pretty stupid. No signs of the backup drive being touched. Either he didn’t bother and was lazy, or didn’t know that these files existed. Either way, Allura should’ve really tested her employees better. Oh well. 

 

“Well, guess we’re in luck in that department. Ok, here’s the plan, we-” Shiro stops when Keith’s phone buzzes, signalling that he’s gotten an email. 

 

“It’s from Mrs. Shay. Keep talking, I’ll just briefly scan through this.” I nod and look back towards Shiro, who’s gesturing with his hands as he talks. 

 

“I need you to hack into Lance’s account and pull up his recent texts and calls. I’ll call into Keith’s academy and my work, I’ll make up an excuse so we can scan through those together.” I nod, following along pretty well, before Keith gasps and covers his mouth. 

 

“Keith? Is something wrong?” Keith shakes his head before handing his phone to Shiro, who takes it with a worried look on his face. After a few moments of watching Shiro’s thumb scroll down on the phone, I narrow my eyes when Shiro’s grip becomes so tight it looks like he might break the phone. 

 

“Apparently, Allura and Iverson want to talk to us regarding the kidnapping. They hope that we’ll be able to point out any details we couldn’t as children.” I clench my teeth and shake in anger. After a moment though, I smile coldly. 

 

“Then let’s meet.” Shiro turns to look to me in shock while Keith rapidly shakes his head. 

 

“Think about it, this’ll give me an opportunity to get inside and make sure they don’t mess with anything.” Shiro’s resistance only lasts for a few moments before he surrenders to my logic. As always. 

 

“Alright, but be careful.” I nod and look to Keith. 

 

“Email her back that we’ll head to the police station tomorrow and surrender any information they need.” Keith rolls his eyes at my drama, but does as asked. 

 

“Alright, if we’re really doing this, then we should spend the rest of the day preparing. We need to make sure none of us lose our cool and reveal anything about….this.” Shiro gestures at my computer.

 

“I assume that that statement was pointed at me and ok, I expect that. But I doubt we need to worry about Keith. He’s impulsive with his actions, yes, but the worst that could happen for him is him going deathly silent. Once that happens, we’ll just claim it was from remembering the wrong things.” Shiro nods at my logic while Keith giggles. 

 

The rest fo the day is spent as Shiro requested: preparing for tomorrow. Aka, deciding on what we will and won’t tell the police before relaxing and calming our nerves. By the time 9:00PM rolls around and we’re all ready for bed, we’ve got a solid story and more than enough practice at not losing our shit (specifically me) and what to do should we speak out. 

 

“Night guys.” I close my door after hearing two responses and sigh, climbing into bed and turning off my bedside lamp. Getting to sleep takes a while, but it happens. 

 

_ The laugh that echoes through the room startles me. My eyes snap open and I shoot up, hands clenched into fists and eyes narrowed. Looking around, I see nothing but darkness, my skin glowing a bit as if I’m a lightbulb. How original.  _

 

_ “Who’s there?! Come out now!” The same laughs echoes through the room again, giving me a direction to go.  _

 

_ “Hmph! Fine! Guess I’m coming after you then!” I break out into a sprint towards the direction of the laugh, disregarding the fact that the room I’m in is so dark I can barely see 2ft in front of me.  _

 

_ “I’ll find you!” I keep running and running until a light turns on in front of me, exposing a window.  _

 

_ “I wasn’t trying to hide, Katie.” I glare at the air and slowly step forward, body tense and ready to pounce on anything that moves.  _

 

_ “It’s Pidge! Where am I and what do you want?!” I look behind me quickly before backing up a bit, my back making contact with the window.  _

 

_ “Nothing. You’re just here to wait your turn.” I bite my lips before bringing my hands up in a fighting stance.  _

 

_ “Turn for what?” I wait a few minutes before whipping around as I hear a scream. A familiar one.  _

 

_ “Keith?!” I press my hands against the glass as Keith continues to scream. He’s hanging from a fucking meat hook, feet tied together, and crying as Lotor uses different knives to cut him! _

 

_ “Lotor! You sick monster! Let him go! You fucker!” I bang against the glass with all of my might. I’m no Shiro, but I should be able to break fucking glass.  _

 

_ “No! Leave him alone!” I growl and continue to pound, ignoring the pain in my hands and the blood that starts to decorate the window.  _ __   
  


_ Lotor doesn’t answer, just puts down his current blde before picking up a clipboard and recording something. “Impressive, Keith. Before, your skin used to be so easy to cut into. Now though? These knives only leave a scratch!” I stare, sick at the scene, before screaming as Lotor pulls out a gun.  _

 

_ “Let’s see how resilient you are to this.” I hit the glass as hard as I can when the muzzle is pointed towards Keith’s stomach, screaming holy hell when the trigger is pulled.  _

 

_ “Keeeeeeeeeeiiiiiiith!”  _

 

I shoot up from my bed and look around, making sure that I;m still in my room before growling and looking towards my alarm. 

 

“5:30AM my ass, those two have gotten up earlier before!” I stand up abruptly before opening my door and stomping towards Keith’s room. 

 

“Keith! Out of bed! I’m helping you make breakfast today!” I cross my arms and tap my foot on the floor as Keith stirs. 

 

“Pidge? What time is-oh! Pidge, why are you so hungry at 5:32AM? Did I not make you enough last night?” I shake my head before uncrossing my arms and making my way towards him. 

 

“You did, you did, I just….woke up early and figured-might as well do something productive, right?” Keith tilts his head and rubs his eyes before giving me a n unconvinced look. 

 

“Pide, you never offer to help me cook, you always state that you’re a scientist.” I shrug before and give hi my puppy eyes. 

 

“Fine, but if Shiro or I find nuts and bolts in our food, the finger of blame is on you.” I nod and grab his hand, pulling him out of bed. 

 

“Alright, alright, fine. Now come on.” I face forward and drag Keith towards the direction of the kitchen. 

 

When we reach the room, I turn on the lights and walk to the table, turning around when Keith doesn’t follow me. Instead, he stands at the door, a knowing look on his face. 

 

“Pidge, I know you had a nightmare. I can see the fear in your eyes.” I bite the inside of my cheek, but don’t lie. 

 

“Is it that noticeable?” I turn fully to face Keith as he shakes his head and walks forward, wrapping me in his arms, protecting me from the world even though he himself is also in danger. 

 

“Not at all. At least, not for an outsider.” I nod into his chest before wrapping my arms around his waist and squeezing. 

 

Shiro, being the strongest human alive, always makes me feel grounded and warm. With Keith and his resilient as fuck body, I feel shielded, and not just physically, emotionally as well.

 

“You were put through so many tests, Keith. I could never get to you, I couldn’t make the pain go away. You’re screams have never left me.” I whimper. Around Shiro and Keith, I’ll be as sensitive and emotional as I fucking want to be. The world doesn’t get to see that part of me. That’s only for them, the people I trust, my family. 

 

“That was your nightmare? Oh Pidge, you suffered too. Don’t worry so much about me.” I growl at Keith’s lack of self worth, but don’t verbally argue, just snuggle closer to him. 

 

“Did I miss something?” I peak around Keith to see Shiro, looking relaxed but worried. 

 

“Not really. Just comforting our little Wolverine.” I turn and playfully glare up at Keith, who only coos and hugs me closer. Damn him and his cuddly self. 

 

“Yeah, yeah, come on. I’m actually hungry now. Shiro must be as well.” I release Keith slowly and pull him towards the counter, making good on my word on helping him. 


	5. Interrogation

Shiro steps out of the car and looks around, making sure that no cars are too close to him before nodding to Keith and Pidge and closing his door. The three walk up to the door of the police station and enter quietly, quickly announcing the reason for their presence before being led to a private room and told to wait. For safety reasons, Shiro sits in the center with Pidge on his left and Keith on gus right. As one would expect, the atmosphere is tense, no matter how much everyone tries to relax. It only lasts so long though, before Iverson, Allura, Lance, and another man enter the room. 

 

“Hello! Thank you again for coming to speak with us. As you all know, my name is Allura. This is my advisor, Coran, and you already know Lance. Then, of course, Captain Iverson.” Shiro nods stiffly before gesturing to his sides. 

 

“As you three must know, I am Takashi Shirogane. To my left is Pidge Holt, to my right is Keith Kogane.” When Allura offers a smile and a greeting, though only Keith responds with the same politeness. Pidge just raises and eyebrow before nodding their head. 

 

“I understand that you wish to question us, again, on the details of our kidnapping?” Allura winces as Shiro stresses the word  _ again _ while Iverson huffs and looks down a bit. 

 

“Yes, that was the plan.” Shiro looks to Pidge, then Keith before looking back towards the front. 

 

“How can we help you?” Iverson looks up again before taking a clipboard and pen from Coran. 

 

“We’ve reviewed your statements from before and have set aside some questions that couldn’t be answered before.” Shiro narrows his eyes, but gestures for Iverson to continue. 

 

“The three of you were kept alive while the other children we found have been killed by means of different chemicals destroying their internal organs. You were missing for a few years while they’ve only been missing for a month or so. Do you have any idea why?” Shiro looks at Pidge, since they begged to answer this question when the three were preparing.

 

“We told the police already: we had something that our kidnapper wanted that he didn’t find in the other children. What that was? Hard to say.” Iverson nods his head before quickly recording the answer. 

 

“Mr. Kogane, the doctors report stated that between the three of you, you suffered the most damage. You were malnourished, deathly dehydrated, and obviously beat. Yet, the state of your body suggests that you were like that for a while. How you were able to not only survive as long as you did, but to also escape, baffles many of our investigators.” 

 

“Shiro snuck me food and water, sir. I was malnourished, but not starved and only dehydrated to the point of feeling drowsy.” Iverson looks at Keith with a raised eyebrow, but looks back at the clipboard when Pidge hisses at him. 

 

“Thank you. Now, if you can remember, can you describe any physical properties that your captor had?” Before Shiro can respond, Pidge growls out.  

 

“Why would we do that if we’re just going to be told we’re wrong and were just tricked? Like last time.” Iverson’s eyes widen, as do everyone else's. 

 

“What?” Pidge, ignoring Keith’s uncertain look and Shiro’s attempt to hold them back, shoots up and takes a threatening step forward. 

 

“You heard me, Captain. The first time we explained what happened, we were told that we were wrong and only thought that we were right because we were kids. We weren’t truly aware on what was going on, we just thought we were.” Lance stands protectively in front of Coran and Allura, the latter frowning. 

 

“Mrs. Holt-” Pidge cuts Allura off with a harsh glare.

 

“For your information, I’m non-binary, thank you very much. And also, I know what you’re going to say. ‘You stated that my boyfriend was the one to kidnap you and kill the rest of your family, but that can’t possibly be right since he’s only an innocent doctor and wouldn’t hurt anybody. Ever.’ If you’re not going to say exactly that, then it’s going to be something like that. Don’t you dare lie and say otherwise.” Lance narrows his eyes and shakes his head. 

 

“Look, I know that the last time you tried to talk to the police, it didn’t go the best it could have. But that is no reason to speak to Allura like that.” Pidge rolls their eyes and snaps at Iverson when the captain tries to push them back towards their seat. 

 

“Touch me and lose that hand.” Iverson scowls and goes to respond, only for Keith to step forward and pull Pidge towards the door. 

 

“Shiro, I’m gonna take Pidge outside…..give them time to calm down.” Keith makes a secret motion to Shiro, showing his true intentions for removing Pidge and himself. 

 

Nodding, Shiro looks towards Iverson: “It’d be for the best. Pidge’s never really trusted cops after we were found and put into the foster system.” 

 

“I’ll just take them back to the lobby and we’ll wait there. Something tells me it’ll be better for you to answer the questions.” Before anyone can stop Keith, he leads Pidge out of the room. 

 

“Shall we continue, Captain?” Iverson pinches the bridge of his nose before nodding towards Shiro. 

 

“I suppose. Can you answer my question or are you still sticking to your original claim of Lotor being your kidnapper?” Shiro crosses his arms and leans back. 

 

“Think I’ll stick to that, since it’s what I remember.” Shiro sends Allura a challenging gaze, relaxing when she doesn’t respond and backs down. 

 

“Very well. Is there any reason that your kidnapper killed the parents quickly, but left the children full of chemicals?” On the outside, Shiro’s polite and logical. On the inside, he’s ready to curse and scream at everyone in the room.

 

‘This is going to be a long session.’ Shiro peeked at the clock and bit his tongue to stop himself from groaning, it’s only been 15 minutes out of a supposedly hour long session. 

 

**When Shiro’s done**

 

“Keith, Pidge, we’re going.” Keith looks up and nods before pulling Pidge up. 

 

“We’re coming.” Pidge quickly turns their phone off before grabbing Keith’s hand and walking towards Shiro. 

“Mr. Kogane, Holt, wait.” Keith turns around while Pidge only glances behind their shoulder, narrowing their eyes when they see it’s Allura. 

 

“May say something before you go?” Keith looks down at Pidge before shaking his head and smiling at the young women. 

 

“Of course.” Allura, happy that Keith isn’t as aggressive as Pidge, smiles at him sadly. 

 

“I just want you guys to know that we’re doing all we can to bring this man to justice.” Keith nods and thanks her before pulling Pidge towards Shiro when the younger teen starts to grumble. 

 

“Did you guys get anything helpful?” Keith shakes his head and gets in the back with Pidge. 

 

“Nothing we won’t already know, unfortunately.” Shiro checks his mirror before looking behind him, backing up slowly, and taking out of the parking lot. 

 

“Then it’s a good thing I got….” Shiro pulls out a phone. “....this.” 

 

“Who’s is that and how does it help?” Shiro chuckles before reaching his arm back as Keith takes the phone 

 

“It’s Lance’s. Figured that if we can see his messages and his calls, then we’ll be a step closer to exposing them and finding Lotor’s next victim.” A couple of gasps are heard before Shiro receives two pats on the shoulder. 

 

“Well done Shiro!” “Yeah, this’ll work just fine.” Shiro looks into his mirror and smiles when he sees Keith smirking and Pidge looking from their phone to Lance’s 

 

“Let’s see…..just give me a second…...and-is this guy serious? His password is his own name!” Shiro chuckles at that while Keith facepalms. Some people are just so-Keith can’t even describe it. 

 

“Well that just made things easier.” Shiro focuses on the road, wisely choosing to ignore Pidge’s rant on coming up with secure passwords and such. 

 

When Shiro’s safely parked the car in the driveway, Pidge's the first to throw open the door and jump out, rushing to the door before unlocking it and entering their home. 

 

“You know, this feels a bit creepy.” Shiro looks at Keith, whose eyes follow Pidge. “What if we read something extremely personal or embarrassing?” 

 

Shiro shakes his head and closes his door, locks the car, then follows Keith to the front door. Once they enter, he throw his arm over the young man’s shoulder and attempts to lighten the situation. 

 

“The only messages we’ll be looking at will be the ones he shares with Allura. Unless we absolutely need to go through any other ones.” Keith still looks hesitant, but doesn’t voice his concerns any further. 

 

“Guys! Get in here!” Shiro laughs at Pidge’s impatience, hanging off of Keith for the sole purpose of slowing their walking pace. 

 

“Shiro, Keith, I will electrocute you!” Keith’s eyes widen before he grabs Shiro’s arm and drags the other inside the monitor room. 

 

Pidge may never actually follow through with that threat, but the fact that they could if they wanted to is what made it scary. 

 

“Finally!” Pidge pouts as the two enter the room before spinning their chair around to face the monitor. 

 

“Ok, let’s see what Mr. Investigator’s got going on here…..” Pidge connects Lance’s phone to the monitor before pulling up call history and his messages. 

 

“Alright…...so, last person he called was Hunk and last person he texted was…..Allura. Ok, time to dig.” Pidge pulls up the text messages first, figuring that they’d be more helpful. 

 

**Today, 10:12AM**

 

**L: Lura, I just met with Iverson. Are you sure you want to be there for the questioning?**

 

**A: Of course, why wouldn't I be?**

 

**L: Well…...they are accusing your boyfriend of kidnapping them. You being there could…..I don’t know how to explain it, it just doesn’t seem like a good idea.**

 

**A: How so? You and Coran are going.**

 

**L: We’re not Lotor’s girlfriend.**

 

**A: And as his girlfriend, it’s my job to clear his name before he gets into trouble.**

 

“Ok, is it just me, or does that sound suspicious?” Shiro tilt his head while Keith rubs his arm. 

 

“We won’t know for sure until we’ve read everything. Let’s keep reading.” Pidge nods and faces back towards the screen, scrolling down to read the next messages. 

 

**A: I don’t know how they could possibly connect him to the kidnappings, it just doesn’t make sense. Hopefully, after today, we’ll know.**

 

**L: Ok, I trust you. Just…..be careful. And don’t pry for how they came to the conclusion that it was Lotor. That’ll seem suspicious.**

 

**A: I’m sure it’ll be fine, Lance. Besides, I already vouched that it wasn’t Lotor. Everything will work out.**

 

“Ok, now you can’t tell me that wasn’t suspicious.” Shiro sighs and looks at Keith, who’s covering his eyes. 

 

“How could she support Lotor doing this to people? What gave her the idea that she could just-” Keith brings a face up to rub over his eyes. 

 

“I don’t understand.” Pidge stands from their chair and walks over to Keith, hugging him close to their body. 

 

“I don’t either, Keith. We can’t question it though. We just need to stop her before she or her boyfriend can do anymore damage. 

 

Shiro watches his younger siblings with a frown. 

 

“Alright guys, enough for today. Let’s all grab some lunch and watch Great British Bake Off, then train for a bit.” Pidge and Keith nod before turning off the monitor and following Shiro out. Today’s been stressful. 


	6. Lance's POV

**Lance POV:**

‘Where the heck is it?! I just had it, like-10 minutes ago!’ I huff and search through all of my pockets again before looking towards Allura and Coran with a frown. 

 

“Guys, do any of you have my phone? Or know where it is?” I receive two negatives before growling and clenching my fist. 

 

“You checked your pockets? The room? Under the table? Under the chair?” I raise an eyebrow at Coran. The last two suggestions were funny, but the first two were logical. I can’t decide whether to laugh or not. 

 

“Here, why don’t I tried calling it and we just follow the ring?” I nod and enter the room again, waiting for Allura to make the call. 

 

She does so quickly, but there’s no ring to be heard. Not even an indication on where the device would be if I put it on vibrate, which I forgot to do. 

 

“Huh, that’s odd. “ I scowl at the floor before taking a look around the room again. 

 

“Allura, please open the  _ find your friends  _ app. We’re not going to get any luck with the calling.” She nods at me before typing something, most likely my number, into her phone. We wait for a few moments before her ringer goes off, signalling that it’s been found. 

 

“How did it wind up at someone’s house?” I look at Allura’s screen and shrug at Coran. 

 

“Captain, would you be willing to look into whose house this is?” We all look over as Iverson nods and writes the address down on a sticky note. 

 

From there, we’re gathered around a computer a someone inputs the address into the search bar. A few moments pass before a name comes up. A very shocking name. 

 

“Takashi Shirogane? How’d it end up at his house?” I narrow my eyes before looking to Allura. I know she won’t have the answer, but still……

 

“I’m not sure, Lance. Perhaps he mistook it for his phone when he was leaving…..?” It sounds like BS, even to her. 

 

“Perhaps that small fella took it! What was their name…..Pidge Holt! They seemed rather angry at our lack of knowledge regarding their kidnapping.” Coran’s idea makes sense. Pidge also lived with Takashi Shirogane. 

 

“If that’s the case, what would they want with it?” I look to Allura and Coran before Iverson clear his throat, looking a bit nervous. 

 

“Pidge Holt is reported here to be a genius when it comes to technology. Right now, they’ve completed almost all years of college at the age of 17 and got into college free with a scholarship in computer science.” I tilt my head and think for a moment before my eyes widen. Oh no. 

 

“Anyone else thinking what I’m thinking?” I face Allura and Coran, who nod with equally nervous looks adorning their faces. 

 

“Pidge most likely took your phone in hopes that what was on it would lead to their kidnapper. Says here the foster reports that they were sent back to the orphanage multiple times due to their aggressive behavior and uncurvable anger.” I look back towards Iverson with a grim face. 

 

“So, they don’t trust police because of our unsuccessful attempts at arresting their kidnapper, so they steal my phone in hopes of being able to do it themselves?” It all makes sense. 

 

“It appears. Come. We must retrieve the phone and confront Pidge about this.” I nod my head and follow Allura out the door. 

 

“Thanks for inviting us for the questioning. Hopefully, we’ll be able to catch the sick bastard doing this.” Iverson nods at me and wishes me luck. 

 

“Alright, I’ve got the directions on my phone. Let’s head over.” I sit in the back as Coran and Allura take the front seats. 

 

“Something to consider you guys: don’t confront Pidge head on about the phone. We’ve already gotten them angry once today. Getting them angry again will solve nothing.” Allura and I nod at Coran as he starts heading towards Takashi’s house. 

 

When we arrive, we park across the street and stare at the house. It’s not a mansion, but it’s bigger than most of the other houses in their neighborhood. The again, the neighborhood itself is pretty small. Only about five other houses here and the cars aren’t in the driveway. Huh, everyone must be at work. Hope at least someone from Shirogane’s house is home. 

 

“Remember, remain calm and non-threatening. Pidge meant no harm, so we shouldn’t imply that they did.” I nod at Cora’s statement before walking to the front door. 

 

Allura knocks a few times before the door opens, revealing a shirtless Shirogane. I’m pretty sure all of us are blushing. Not only because of the fact that the dude’s shirtless, but because he’s fuckng ripped! Seriously! He looks like he could bench a car, or something. 

 

“May I help you?” I shake my head and try to say something, but nothing comes out. 

 

“Eh, yes! You see, Lance’s phone went missing after our questioning session and we tracked it here.” I facepalm at Coran. You don’t just say…..that. It sounds like we’re accusing them 

 

Well, to be fair, we are. But it’s not bad! 

 

“So…..you think one of us has it?” I gulp and nod, flinching back when Shirogane narrows his eyes. 

 

As Allura clears her throat and speaks about our reasons for thinking that Pidge took it, I focus back on Shirogane’s body. Before anyone says anything, I don’t mean in a perverted way! It’s just-his skin is covered in scars and marks. They appear to go from his shoulders, to his biceps, to his forearms, across his chest and stomach, and I would pay good money to bet that there were some on his back as well. 

 

‘Those must’ve come from the kidnapping.’ I look up and frown as Shirogane starts to glare as Allura continues to speak. ‘Pidge’s pretty justified in not liking or trusting us.’ 

 

“Correct me if I’m understanding this wrong, but you only came here to interrupt my workout and accuse my youngest sibling of stealing your lap-dogs phone?” I gasp as Coran covers his mouth. Did he just refer to me as a lap-dog? 

 

“Mr. Shirogane! I understand that after this morning you may feel….protective over Pidge, but please refrain from calling Lance a ‘lap-dog’.” I continue to stare at Shirogane, shocked at his words. This is the dude who stayed calm in the interrogation, gave us all of the information he had peacefully. Why is he acting like this now? 

 

“From where I’m standing, you understand nothing.” I shiver at the coldness in Shirogane’s voice before stepping forward and fixing him with the firmest glare I can muster. Which is honestly really difficult, considering how he towers over me and looks like he could throw me pretty far. 

 

“Look, all we came here for was my phone and to talk to Pidge. We’re not going to hurt them or anything. We will, however, acquire a warrant to search your home if needed.” I step back as Shirogane growls, but keep my glare pinned on him. 

 

“I’ll have you know that you will do no such thing and that Pidge isn’t even here. I’ll go get dressed and call to see if they have your phone. Meanwhile, you three will remain out here.” The door is slammed in my face before I can respond.

 

This started out peacefully. It’s probably going to end with an arrest being made. Wonderful. 

 

“That was….shocking.” I look at Coran, who’s positioned himself in front of Allura, but is leaning back a bit. Fear evident in his eyes. 

 

“Agreed. He wasn’t aggressive at all when talking in the questioning.” I nod at Allura before facing the door again as it opens. Only a bit though. 

 

“Here’s your phone. I talked to Pidge and they said that they’re sorry that they took it.” I catch my phone as it’s tossed to me, but stop the door from closing. 

 

“Wait! Look, I know it wasn’t cool of us to just come here and accuse Pidge. As their older brother, it’s only natural that you want to protect them. But it’s important that we talk to them.” I throw the door open, ignoring how Shirogane's fist clenches. 

 

“I promise that we won’t be long, we just need to as-” I can’t even finish my sentence before my arm is grabbed and I’m thrown. 

 

“Lance!” I grunt as my back makes contact with the ground before coughing and sitting up. 

 

Shirogane’s fists are clenched, body tense, and expression dangerous. Looking around me, I can see he’s flung me onto the lawn of the house opposite of theirs. As in, the house across the street. A: how did I survive. B: how did he toss me that far?! 

 

“You will not be coming in here.” I narrow my eyes and stand up as he faces Allura and Coran. 

 

“We’re not going to hurt Pidge, but if you make a move to strike Allura or Coran, then I’m going to arrest you for assault.” Shiro glares over at me before turning his glare towards Allura. 

 

“Go ahead, but you’re not coming in.” I take a deep breath and move my hand towards my taser. This is going to suck. 

 

“Shirogane, you seem like a reasonable man. Let’s just talk this out and-” I’m interrupted again when he steps out, slams the door shut, and gets into a fighting stance. 

 

“You’re not getting in.” Damn it. I’ve got no choice now. And what happened to Pidge not even being home? Did he lie about that? Is that why we’re not allowed in? 

 

“No!” I gasp as Allura flings herself onto Shirogane, arms around his neck and knees against his hips. 

 

“Stop this!” I rush forward when Shirogane pushes Coran across the yard and reaches behind him to grab Allura. He takes hold of her shirt and pulls her off like it’s nothing. Is this guys on steroids or something? Or just a mini-hulk? 

 

“Get off me!” I growl as Allura’s thrown onto Coran, taking Shirogane’s temporary distraction as my moment. 

 

“Don’t!” His eyes snap towards me right as my taser makes contact with his side. I flinch as yells and starts to shake, but don’t make a move to remove the taser. Not until he’s on the ground, barely conscious. It sounds cruel, but I have no choice. 

 

“Allura! Coran! Are you guys ok?” I look behind me and wince when Allura starts to walk over to me with a limp, same with Coran. 

 

“I’m fine.” I nod and look down at the barely conscious Shirogane. Even if he attacked us, I feel bad. He was just trying to protect his siblings. 

 

“Do we really need to arrest him? He was just trying to protect his younger siblings?” Allura and I face Coran with, what I presume, matching sad expressions. 

 

“We might not need to arrest him, but we do need to detain him. Coran, you saw his strength. If someone else accidentally activates his protective rage, he could seriously hurt them.” I look at Allura and nod, pulling out my own set of cuffs. 

 

“Is it even worth it, Lance? We’ve just experienced a taste of his power. Those won’t hold him for very long.” I look from Allura to Shirogane and sigh. She’s right. 

 

“Alright. Well, on our way to our holding facility, I’ll just taze him if he starts to regain consciousness.” I lean down to grab one of Shirogane’s arms, throwing it over my shoulder as I stand up. 

 

“For someone so strong, he doesn’t weigh so much.” Coran comes to help me as Allura tilts her head. This isn’t right. He flung me across the street, he should weigh more. 

 

“When he wakes up, we’ll ask him what’s going on.” I nod and half carry him to the car. When we reach it, Allura opens the door as I stuff him inside. 

 

Coran and Allura once again take the front seat while I sit in the back, buckling Shirogane in. I pull my taser out when we start driving, prepared to stick it to side if he wakes up. 

 

“You think he’ll actually answer us?” I keep my eyes on Shiro, but see Allura and Coran face each other in my peripheral vision. 

 

“We need to try, Lance.” I sigh, but nod my head. 

 

As our company building gets closer and closer in sight, my anxiety starts to rise. He hasn’t even stirred while in the car. Did I go too hard with the taser? Did i do more than knock him out? Oh god…..

 

“Lance, we’re here. I’ve arranged for Hunk and James to meet us and help get Shirogane into one of the holding rooms.” I snap out of my thought process and nod. 

 

“Guys! What happened?” I look towards Hunk and shake my head, signalling that now’s not the time. 

 

“Help us get him inside and we’ll explain everything.” I unbuckles Shirogane and pull him out, Hunk taking his other side and James covering the back. 

 

“Let’s hurry. He might wake up anytime.” I don’t look anywhere but forward. But I feel like if I did, I’d see Hunk’s beyond concerned face and James confused one. 

 

We enter quickly, taking the elevator to the third floor of the four story building. He starts to stir when we’re a few doors from a capable holding cell, prompting us to fucking hurry. 

 

“Guys, come on! He’s waking up!” I break into a light jog and make it ot the door just as he starts to groan. 

 

We enter the room and quickly place him against the wall before sprinting out and shutting the door. 

 

“Ok, now will anyone explain why we’re locking one of the surviving victims in a holding cell and not a protection room?” I quickly explain the past events and flinch as James shouts. 

 

“What?! How’s that possible? No one’s that strong!” I shrug before following Allura to the window of his cell. 

 

“I know that he will be defensive and suspicious, but I must know what prompted him to attack us.” I nod at her statement before focusing forward, watching as Shirogane takes in his surroundings before sitting down, criss cross. 

 

“It was only a matter of time.” I raise a brow, but Allura verbally asks what he means. 

 

“It was only a matter of time before Lotor found us, before we’d be captured again. But Allura, tell him that I’ve got a newsflash for him….” I reach for my taser as he looks up and glares at all of us. 

 

“This time…..we’ll all fight back. We’ll use the powers he gave us to kill all of you.” I gasps. What powers? What’s going on?


	7. Getting Caught

“What do you mean?” Allura covers her mouth at the pure hate in Shiro’s voice. 

 

“Exactly what I said. Lotor will regret turning us into weapons. I’ll make sure of it.” Coran and Lance turn to look at each other before looking at Allura, who looks horrified. 

 

“What has Lotor ever done to make you so sure it’s him?!” Shiro blinks a few times before standing up and walking forward, cracking his knuckles loudly. 

 

“What has Lotor done?” James and Hunk steps forward, an attempt at intimidation. One that fails drastically. 

 

“He killed our families!” Shiro suddenly shouts and punches one of the walls, seriously denting it. 

 

“He killed hundreds of other children!” Another punch to a different wall. 

 

“He experimented on all of us!” A punch to the window, the glass cracking dangerously. 

 

“He turned us into weapons for his own selfish needs to perfect humanity!” Shiro starts to cry as memories of Keith’s screams, of Pidge’s screams, of his own screams, come to mind. 

 

“He’s a sick monster who deserves to burn in hell!” Shiro’s final punch to one of the walls result in a hole being made. A somewhat large, fist shaped hole. 

 

“And you helped him get away with it.” Allura freezes, as does everyone else. 

 

“What?” Hearing the raw pain in Shiro’s voice, seeing just how much more strength he possesses, Allura starts to believe that he’s onto something. Yet she still tries to deny that her love would do such an awful thing! 

 

“You always supported him, always turned the attention away from him. He would take families and you’d let him. He’d kill innocent people and you’d let him.” Tears make their way into Allura’s eyes as Shiro continues to accuse her. 

 

“Were you so grief stricken over your own father’s death that you allowed innocent children to be experimented on by your precious boyfriend? Did their lives mean nothing to you? Or do you just have a god complex?” Allura starts to cry after that. Tears falling freely and quickly down her face. 

 

“How could you say that?! How could you imply such cruel things?!” Lance takes Allura into his arms while glaring at Shiro. 

 

“Look dude, I get it, you’ve been experimented on and stuff…..but bringing Alfor into this is a low blow!” Hunk and James nod, the latter turning to also glare at Shiro. 

 

“No, what’s a low blow is how every child that was taken was forced to watch their parents die fright in front of them! What’s a low blow is how all of you continue to support Lotor and his sick need to experiment on living creatures!” Shiro growl, refusing to back down, he approaches the glass again, not caring of how James exposes his gun. 

 

“None of us did anything! And neither did Lotor! You can’t just blame us with no proof!” Shiro halts, but then starts laughing darkly. 

 

“Oh, you want proof? Well, let me tell you, we’ve got all of that on Pidge’s computer! Yes, alright, you caught us. I stole Lance’s phone and Pidge hacked into it. We looked through your messages, Lance, we know all about how you and Allura planned to keep Lotor from being caught.” Lance’s eyes widen while Allura removes her head from his chest to gasp. 

 

“The fact that families are still going missing is also proof enough.” Shiro stops laughing and look back at Allura, making sure that his expression looks murderous. 

 

“It’s over, Allura. When the three of us are done, you nor any of your lackies will ever hurt another innocent person again.” Allura screams and pounds in the glass, ignoring how her hands start to bleed. 

 

“You’re wrong! You don’t know what you’re talking about! You’re just bitter that you’re families were murdered!” Shiro glares and approaches the glass again, Allura stepping back out of fear. 

 

“Oh? Is that what you think it is? Well, you are somewhat correct. We’re bitter about our families being taken away from us. But we’re also determined to make sure none of you get away with your crimes!” Coran steps forward, no longer afraid. 

 

“Sir, did it ever cross your mind that you’re suffering from a mental illness? Perhaps you and your siblings are still traumatized and have developed a syndrome out of fear and paranoia.” Shiro tilts his head and crosses his arms. His eyes are puffy and red, but for some reason, that just makes him look more deadly. 

 

“It’s happened a lot of times in other cases. Victims who don’t receive closure tend to develop mental illnesses, ranging from illusions to dangerous amounts of anger and desires for any form of revenge. A way to make other people hurt because you were hurt.” Shiro rolls his eyes and scoffs. 

 

“And you guys wonder why none of us went to the police and just decided to take Lotor down on our own.” Everyone tenses up at this. Apparently, Coran’s gentle and logical approach didn’t work. 

 

“If Lotor was as much of a monster as you’re accusing him to be, then Allura would never date him. There’s no evidence, Shiro. You’re blaming an innocent doctor for the murder of your parents and the suffering that you, Keith, and Pidge share.” Shiro regards Hunk with a careful eye before shaking his head. 

 

“Good to know that Lotor chose to involve people as sick as him in his operation. Only people with no morals would try to claim they do after murdering thousands.” Hunk frowns. 

 

“We do have morals! Look, I know that you and your friends went through hell and I’m sorry that none of us could help you, but you blaming an innocent man isn’t going to help us catch the real perpetrator.” Shiro rolls his eyes, not believing Hunk at all. 

 

“Like I’ve said before, now you know why none of us reported anything. We’d fall right into Lotor’s trap.” Lance and Hunk both sigh in frustration while James pinches the bridge of his nose. This stubborn bastard. 

 

**With Keith and Pidge**

 

“Keith! They took him! They took Shiro!” Keith stares at the monitor with horror. 

 

After finishing about 3 episodes of Great British Bake Off, they decided to train. When someone knocked on the door, Shiro went to check who it was. When he returned, he threw on his shirt and told Keith to seal himself and Pidge in the monitor room. To not come out no matter what. Naturally, both had protested, but Shiro put his foot down. He went to protect them, but only got himself caught. Just like while they were all in the lab with Lotor testing them. 

 

“Keith?! Keith?!” Keith can’t hear Pidge’s worried voice. He can only hear Shiro’s screams when he was punished for helping him. 

 

_ “Keith!” The boy in question looked up from where he was hunched over, his expression pained.  _

 

_ “Yes?” Shiro looks at the boy sadly before looking around the room and squatting down. He unzips his jacket and pulls out a piece of bread before offering it to Keith.  _

 

_ “Take it. All of it. Just do it.” Keith eyes the food hungrily before looking to Shiro. _

 

_ “You’ll be punished if Lotor finds out.” Shiro shakes his head.  _

 

_ “I don’t care. He’s starving you and that’s worse. I won’t let him kill you, Keith. I won’t.” Keith tears up before nodding and taking the bread, eating it quickly just in case Lotor comes into the room.  _

 

_ “Thank you, thank you, thank you….” Shiro brings Keith to his chest, shushing the crying boy gently.  _

 

_ “I don’t care if I get punished or not. I won’t let you go hungry if I can help it.” Keith smiles into Shiro’s chest before his eyes widen at the new voice that enters the cell.  _

 

_ “Is that so, Shiro?” Keith clutches Shiro tightly while the older boy growls and moves ot stand in front of Keith.  _

 

_ “That’s right, Lotor.” Lotor frowns momentarily at Shiro’s venomous tone before shaking his head and pushing Pidge into the cell aggressively.  _

 

_ “And here I thought after last time, you’d be more obedient of my rules.” Lotor walks forward, ignoring how Pidge hisses at him from their place on the floor. “I guess not.”  _

 

_ Shiro flinches as Lotor grabs him and begins to drag him out of the room.  _

 

_ “No! No, please! Don’t punish him! Punish me! I’m the one who ate the bread! I’m the one who disobeyed your orders!” Keith attempts to rush forward, but Shiro holds up his hand and smiles sadly.  _

 

_ “Keith, please, stay here. I’ll be ok. Take care of Katie.” Keith cries and shakes his head, continuing to beg Lotor to punish him as Shiro is taken farther and farther away.  _

 

_ “No! Shiro! Lotor, please! Punish me! Please! I’m the one who deserves it!” Keith bangs against the door, willing it to open as screams are heard.  _

 

_ “Shiro! I’m sorry! Please!” Only screams answer him. Pained and angry.  _

 

“Keith!” Keith shakes his head and looks at Pidge, who’s holding his face in their hands. 

 

“Keith! What happened?! Are you ok?!” Keith reaches a hdn up to brush away the tears he knows are there before reaching up to hug Pidge. 

 

“It’s just like in Lotor’s cell. Shiro’s getting punished for protecting….” Pidge combs their fingers through Keith’s hair as he cries. 

 

“It’s not your fault, Keith. We obeyed Shiro, it’s all we could’ve done. We helped him by not putting ourselves in danger.” Pidge continues to comfort Keith as their temper rises. 

 

Lotor and Allura are going to get it now. Taking one of their older brother’s and traumatizing the other is unforgivable. Keith is strong and normally hides his pain in fear that it’ll be a burden to Shiro and Pidge. So to see him crying his heart out from one of his flashbacks always puts both people a protective rage. 

 

“What do we do now?” Pidge looks down at Keith. 

 

“We storm into Altea Corp. and get our big brother back.” Keith takes a few calming breaths before nodding and standing up, grabbing Pidge’s hand. 

 

“Alright.” Pidge squeezes Keith’s hand before walking over to one of the closets. From there, they pull out six bracelets: two green, two black, and two red. 

 

“I refuse to be unprepared, so I made these in case Lotor ever showed his face.” Keith nods and takes the red bracelets offered to him. Slipping them on, he examines them for a few seconds before looking to Pidge for instruction. 

 

“Press the white button on one of them. Doesn’t matter which one.” Keith does as told and gasps as both bracelets glow and cover his forearms in red amour. As for the rest of his body, he’s covered in a black fabric like material and shin guards that go from his ankles to his feet. The final piece is a holographic hood that covers his head and a mask that slips over his mouth and nose, though he can still breath just fine. 

 

“If you clench your fists and swing your arms, you get a surprise.” Keith, still in shock, nods and does as instructed. A glowing beam of energy emerges from the armor. 

 

“Figured that if you were going to have any weapons, you’d want blades.” Keith turns towards Pidge and smiles at their dangerous smirk. 

 

“Ok then. What do you and Shiro get?” Pidge places their bracelets on. Like Keith’s, the any one of the white glowing buttons will activate them. As the amour starts to cover Pidge’s arm, Keith notices the subtle differences.

 

Besides the color change, Pidge’s arm guards also looks a bit bulkier. Also, they don’t have a hood and mask, just a lense that covers their eyes. Other than that, nothing else is that different. They’re still covered in a black colored fabric with guards for their feet. 

 

“I made myself some build in electro guns and Shiro? Well, I didn’t have anything creative. So I just gave him some gauntlets for when he decides to hit stuff.” Keith giggles at bit at the last part of Pidge’s sentence before grabbing Shiro’s bracelets and sighing. 

 

“Let’s get this over with then.” Pidge nods and pulls out their phone. They type in a few things before nodding and pressing the off button. 

 

“Come on, I just looked up the directions. Turn off your bracelet, we’ll turn them back on when we’re in the building.” Keith nods and presses the white button. Pidge does the same before following Keith out to the car. 

 

“Good thing I ensured that you and Shiro could legally drive without any actual tests required, huh?” Keith nods and starts the car, backing out of the driveway before driving towards Altea Corp., following Pidge’s directions. 

 

When they reach the building, Keith parks in the parking lot and follows Pidge to their chosen entrance. 

 

“Why enter through a front door when you can hack into the back one?” Pidge smirks at Keith and nods, pulling out their phone to do just that. 

 

“There we go, come on.” The two quickly enter the building before closing the door Pidge pulls up a quick map of the building before facepalming. 

 

“Of course he’s on the third floor. Cause why not?” Keith shrugs before following Pidge to the elevator. Once they’re in, Pidge looks around before locating the camera. Keith allows Pidge to climb onto his shoulder in order to rip it out of the wall. 

 

“You think that’ll set off an alarm?” Pidge slimbs off and looks at their bracelet with a grim look. 

 

“That’s what I’m counting on.” Keith nods and follows Pidge’s lead of pressing the white button. 

 

“You ready?” Keith examines himself before looking to Pidge and nodding slowly. 

 

“Good, because we’re here. And my scanners show that we’ll have company.” Just as Pidge finishes speaking, the elevator door opens. Keith and Pidge comes face to face with Hunk, Lance, Allura, Coran, and James. 

 

“Well, well, well, just the people we were looking for.” Pidge narrows their eyes, activating their blasters while Keith activates his blades. 

 

“Where’s Shiro?” Lance gulps before putting on a brave face, pushing Allura and Coran behind him while Hunk and James point their guns at the intruders. 

 

“Who wants to know?” Pidge chuckles while Keith glares. 

 

“No one special. Just…..” Pidge shoots towards the floor in warning that the group before them that everyone needs to back the fuck up. “.....his younger siblings.” 

 

Gasps of shock are heard before Keith steps forward, energy  blades out and ready. It’s time for some fun. 


	8. Allura's POV

**Allura POV:**

How did this day end up like this? Why did this day end up like this? 

 

“Pidge? Keith?” I attempt to look over Lance’s shoulder, only for Coran to pull me back. 

 

“Yes, you sound surprised. What, did Lotor only tell you that I was smart? Did he neglect to tell you how smart he made me?” I’ve been crying all day! Why haven’t I run out of tears? 

 

“Am I safe to assume that you guys think that Lotor’s the bad guy here and that we’re helping him? Like Shiro does?” I cover my mouth and turn to Coran as Hunk’s pained voice fills the room. Good god, what’s happened to these children to make them think such lies? 

 

“Of course we do, you guys all had the perfect motive. Alfor died of cancer, so Allura helped Lotor kidnap families so he could experiment on him. That combined with the files and messages we’ve seen from Lance’s phone…...well, you can take a guess.” I shake my head, sobbing quietly. 

 

What did I do to deserve these horrible accusations? What did Lotor ever do? He’s a doctor, for pity’s sake! He tries to help people! He understands that no one deserves the pain of losing a loved one before their time. Especially not in the form of homicide. 

 

“How could you suggest such things?!” I look up and smile at James. He may seem aggressive and cold to others, but I know how loyal and caring he truly is. 

 

“Did you not listen to what I just said? All of you had the perfect motive, files of great importance were taken out of the archive, and the messages from Lance’s phone suggests that you guys were trying to hide Lotor’s acts. Well, guess what? It’s over. Once we rescue Shiro and get out of here, we’re exposing everything to the police. Even if it gets us arrested, neither you nor Lotor will get away with this.” That’s it! 

 

“Lotor is innocent! And so are we! You just refuse to listen to reason!” I march forward, ignoring Lance’s attempt to pull me back. I won’t hear any more of these accusations!

 

“What reason? All I hear are lies.” I get as close to the two as I can, which isn’t saying much since Pidge’s gun and Keith’s blades are out. If I wasn’t so upset, I’d be praising Pidge for their genius, no doubt they were the one to make such fine armour. 

 

“We’re not lying! Lotor is innocent and so are we!” I glare at the two, specifically Pidge, refusing to back down. 

 

Several moments of tense silence follow. Pidge and Keith still have their weapons out and pointed at us while James and Hunk point guns at them. This isn't at all how I wanted to speak to them about this, but we’ve been left with no choice. 

 

“She’s right, you know.” I look to Keith in shock. Is he really believing me? Maybe we can solve this peacefully after all……

 

“We have evidence that suggests that they’re involved with Lotor’s….experimentations, but we don’t know for sure.” I sigh and shake my head. So we’re not involved, but Lotor is? An improvement, I suppose…...

 

I step back and gesture for the two to step out of the elevator. Which, to my relief, they follow. Now, we’re all standing in the hallway and no one’s being backed into a corner. Just in case, I press the emergency button on my phone, alerting the police that we may need assistance. 

 

“I don’t know how or why any of you came to the conclusion that Lotor’s the one doing this, but it’s not true. I can assure you, none of us are involved.” I make sure that my gaze is firm, but hold my hands out as a sign of peace, hoping that we can just talk this out.

 

Keith and Pidge just stand there, weapons no longer pointed at us, but still out and active. I think it’s supposed to be a warning. 

 

“If that’s true…..” I take a step back at Pidge’s tone of voice. It sounds like they’re barely keeping themselves in check. “.....then why are you wearing a dead girl’s ring?” My eyes widen. What?!

 

“What do you mean?” Pidge’s head snaps up and the weapons are pointed back at us. No! We were so close! 

 

“The mother of the last family that was kidnapped had a purple ring, decorated with beautiful black flowers. Her husband had a matching one that was black with purple flowers on it. They were the rings that were used in their wedding. If you are so innocent, then why are you wearing that ring?” I look to my middle finger, horrified. 

 

“Am I safe to assume Lotor gave you that ring? How cute, he actually cares about someone in his sick, twisted mind.” I shout as someone grabs my arm, but calm once I see it’s Lance. 

 

“Enough! Why can’t any of you understand it’s not Lotor?! All of you are in serious need of a mental ward if you continue believing these lies you’ve made!” While I agree with Lance completely, perhaps that wasn’t the thing to say. 

 

“What we need or don’t isn’t in question right now. Where Shiro is though? That’s something that needs an answer. Now.” I glare at Pidge as they point their weapon back at us before sighing in relief when the elevator dings and Iverson, along with a few other officers, step out. 

 

“Thank god!” Iverson sends me a nod before glaring at Keith and Pidge, whose weapons are now pointed at the officers as well. 

 

“Drop those weapons!” Pidge snorts and sends Iverson the middle finger. How rude! 

 

“Fuck off you wannabe protector.” I gasp at the curse before looking over at Iverson, who looks about ready to explode. 

 

“Pidge, behind me.” I narrow my eyes at Keith’s tone. So far, he’s been pretty silent, safe for the comment about not having evidence of our connection. And even then, he sounded pretty calm. 

 

Now though? Now he sounds threatening, like he’s challenging us. 

 

“You will have to shoot me down before you get to Pidge.” Keith’s bravery is something I admire, despite wanting to scoff at his stupidity. 

 

“I don’t wish to shoot anyone. However, I will if you two don’t drop those weapon.” I nod from my place behind Lance. Surely, Pidge’s smart enough to know that it’s a deal they have to take? 

 

“Yeah, no deal.” I gasp as Pidge aims their gun at the elevator and shoots. Great. Now if reinforcements do come, they need to come up the stairs. 

 

Since we’re on the third floor, that could prove to be a problem. 

 

“Fire!” I cover my eyes as a shot goes up, but uncover them when I hear gasps of shock. 

 

“What-?” Lance points at Keith, who’s still standing in front of Pidge, very much alive. 

 

“How-? That bullet fired directly at you! How are you not bleeding or dead?!” I cover my mouth after asking. That didn’t need to come out. 

 

“Simple, Allura……” I tremble as Keith brings up one of his blades and almost faints as he drags it across his bicep. It slices through his clothes and leaves an angry red mark on his skin, but doesn’t do anything else. 

 

“What?!” I look at Hunk, who looks like he’s about to vomit. I don’t blame him. 

 

“My body is quite…..resilient when it comes to taking damage.” I gasp as the clothing glows red before fixing itself so Keith’s bicep is no longer exposed. 

 

“Now, as I said, you will need to shoot me down before you get to Pidge.” Keith is the perfect image of an assassin right now. Hood on, mask on, voice low, threat being made….it’s all there. 

 

“No one can survive a shot to the head!” I scream as Lance quickly brings his arm up and fire, hitting what looks to be Keith’s…..eye? 

 

“Dude!” I tilt my head as Pidge grabs Keith’s arm, helping him to steady himself. 

 

“That was his eye, you jerk! Do you have any idea how much that stings?!” I feel Lance go tense. Stings? That’s it? 

 

“What are you?!” I narrow my eyes at James. These people are crazy and need a lot of therapy, but asking someone that is just so insensitive!

 

“Weapons, thanks to your precious Lotor!” I grunt in frustration at Pidge’s sneer. Why don’t they just understand?! 

“I think we’ve wasted enough time here, Pidge.” I gulp as Keith points his blade at Lance and I. His eyes looks…..a bit swollen, but otherwise, completely fine. 

 

“Agreed. Let’s get this over with.” When Pidge’s guns sound off, bullets from the police start flying through the air. 

 

“Pidge, behind me!” I almost want to growl. As long as they’re together, then Keith will just shield Pidge and take no damage himself. There’ll be no success. 

 

“Guys! Wait!” I pull on Lance’s shoulder as he tries to intervene and shake my head. He steps any closer to Pidge or Keith and he’ll no doubt be shot. 

 

Before long, the four dreaded words escape Iverson’s lips” “We’re out of bullets!” 

 

I gasp in fear before pulling Lance back a bit. This isn’t good……

 

“Pidge, no killing. Shiro wouldn’t want that.” For a moment, I’m reminded that Keith’s just a victim in this. A boy who was kidnapped and never got closure. His voice just sounds so….sad and insecure. 

 

“Fine!” The same cannot be said for Pidge, who just sounds angry and murderous. 

 

“No! We just need to talk this ou-!” Hunk’s cut off by Keith rushing forward and slamming him into a wall. 

 

“Hunk!” I try and run to him, only to get kicked to the opposite wall. Damnit! 

 

“Leave her alone!” I blink a few times before my vision becomes clear again. 

 

“Allura, we must get you to safety.” I whimper as Coran picks me up and places me in one of the rooms. 

 

“You’ll be safe here.” I protest as he exits the room and locks the door, but can’t bring myself to do anything else but turn around to watch the fight and cry. 

 

Pidge and Keith, as I soon come to realize, really have been made into weapons. Every security guard that’s gone after Keith has been kicked away, then brutally beaten. Anyone who went after Pidge was electrocuted by one of her blasters. Huh, I suppose it’s good that they have a ‘stun, but not kill’ setting. That’s a relief. 

 

“James!” I scream and pound onto the window. He and Lance were so close to pinning Keith down. Yet, he managed to sweep Lance’s feet from under him and throw James into one of the window walls. 

 

“Lance, no!” I continue to pound against the door as Lance is hoisted off the ground, Keith’s hand wrapped around his throat. 

 

“Let him go! Keith, please, let him go!” I cry and scream as Lance’s feet start to kick less and less, his grip on Keith’s hands starting to weaken. 

 

“Someone, anyone, help Lance!” I smile when Hunk manages to get up and charges at Keith, but scream when Keith simply throws Lance’s now limp body at Hunk. 

 

“Hunk! Lance!” I continue to hit the glass as Keith walks forward, no doubt intent on finishing both of my friends off. “Keith, please!” 

 

“Argh!” I sigh in relief as James jumps onto Keith’s back, but yell as Keith backs up into a wall and slams his back into it, crushing James between his body and the wall. 

 

“No!” I look over at who yelled and see Iverson trying to get up, only for Pidge to leap forward and stomp him down. That little brat!

 

“Stay down, you corrupted bastard!” I hiss and hit the window before focusing on Keith again. 

 

“You won’t get away with this!” I growl as Keith kicks James down before flipping away to avoid a hit from Coran. 

 

“Coran, no!” My warning comes too late. 

 

Keith dodges Coran’s punch and sweeps his feet before kicking him into a wall. I wince as Coran’s face makes contact before crying out when he drops onto the floor. He was my adviser, he wasn’t trained how to fight! And he’s a pacifist! 

 

“Stop this!” Once again, my pleads fall to death ears as Keith and Pidge continue to fight their way through the guards. 

 

By now, all of the police officers, including Iverson, have been beaten to the point where lying still is as painful as moving around. The only ones left fighting are James and Lance, who look like they will fall soon. 

 

“This didn’t have to be this way. All you guys had to do was tell us where Shiro was and this could’ve been avoided.” I look down and shake my head as Pidge growls at my two last standing friends. Oh god, please, have mercy! 

 

“You all need help! Like, years worth of therapy help!” My eyes snap up in shock as Lance spits at Pidge and Keith. 

 

“You can’t blame innocent people for the family you lost! It just makes you a monster! Just like your kidnapper!” I cover my mouth and shake my head. No, no, no! Lance!

 

“Funny you’d say that. Then again, I expect nothing less from one of Lotor’s puppets!” I scream in anger at Pidge’s lies! 

 

“Lotor is innocent! He’s not the one doing this! He’s not sick like the three of you are!” I cry out my anger, not noticing the look that Pidge and Keith share before Pidge’s approaching the room I’m in. 

 

“Leave her alone!” I look up to see Pidge pointing one of their guns at the window and back up to avoid getting hit by glass or electricity. 

 

“I swear, if you touch her, you’ll regret it so much!” I gulp and whimper in fear as Pidge enters the room, gun still pointed at me. 

 

“Please, we can prove that Lotor’s innocent. Just let us.” I sniff and look up at Pidge pleadingly. 

 

“Please…..” They only glare at me and point the muzzle of their gun directly at my face. 

 

Oh god, this is going to hurt…...

 

“Hold on there Pidge, keeping her alive might just help us find Lotor.” I gasp and look behind Pidge. 

 

There, standing by the window is Shirogane. 


	9. Exposing the Truth

“Shiro!” Pidge and Keith both shout for their older brother, abandoning their posts of guarding to run forward and envelope him into one group hug. 

 

“Come on, you guys didn’t think that simple steel would stop me from getting back to you guys, did you?” Keith sniffs a bit while Pidge growls. 

 

“No, I just didn’t trust Allura or any of her lackies. Thought she would send to to Lotor.” Shiro frowns and turns to glare at Allura, who’s slowly starting to stand up. 

 

“Lotor isn’t the one doing this! Why won’t any of you belive us?!” Keith, still relishing the fact that Shiro’s safe and not harmed (like how he was when he was being dragged off to be punished while in captivity), gasps in alarm and tightens his hold on Shiro. 

 

“No!” Allura freezes in her tracks and her eyes widen. Keith sounds so….scared. Vulnerable. 

 

“Keith, it’s ok. Nobody’s going to take me away again. Not this time.” Allura remains in her spot, but watches in fascination as Shiro cradles Keith to him gently. 

 

This isn’t the angry, lie spouting man she encountered earlier. Instead, a caring older brother tending to his younger. And Keith isn’t the deadly assassin-like boy her team had fought, he’s a startled youngin who needs the comfort of his older brother to feel safe again. All of Allura’s previous anger melts away at the sight. She carefully walks forward, making sure that Pidge, Shiro, and Keith can see her, before squatting down in front of the three. 

 

“It’s surprising, isn’t it? How quickly people’s attitudes can change depending on their company.” Allura nods at Pidge’s statement, ignoring the light snarl in their words. 

 

“It was always like this when we were kidnapped. One of us would be in physical and mental pain while the other two would be calming them down. There wouldn’t be a day without….” Pidge gestures to Shiro and Keith. “....this.” 

 

Allura watches the scene with sad eyes before gasping as Pidge shoots up and points there gun back at her. 

 

“Take out your phone and slide it to Shiro.” Allura, shocked at the sudden change, nods and takes her phone out. She doesn’t end up sliding it, merely handing it to Shiro. 

 

“Lotor is innocent. You’re all wrong about him being your kidnapper.” Allura’s warning doesn’t stop Shiro. He opens her phone, handing it to Pidge when there’s a passcode, before going to her contacts and looking for Lotor. 

 

In this case, Shiro assumes that the contact labeled ‘My Love ❤️’ is Lotor’s. He presses the call button and waits for a few seconds before the phone is answered. The purr in Lotor’s voice makes him cringe in disgust while Keith squeezes him tighter and glares at the device. 

 

“Hello, my dear. How may I help you today?” Allura opens her mouth to say something, only for Pidge to place their gun close to her face and glare. 

 

“Sorry, Allura’s busy right now. It’s actually me that wants to talk.” It’s silent for a moment before Lotor speak again, sounding confused and annoyed. 

 

“Your voice is familiar, but do remind me of your name. Also, why don’t you tell me why you’re using Allura’s phone to contact me?” Shiro pats Keith’s shoulder as the latter hisses. 

 

“Of course, a reminder is always nice, isn’t it? My name is Takashi Shirogane and as for why I’m using Allura’s phone? Well, the thing is, she’s kind of with me right now. As in, she’s my hostage.” More silence follows before Shiro glares at the phone. 

 

“We will keep her with us until you cooperate and release the family you currently have for your sick experiments. Unless of course, they’re already dead. In which case, we’ll have no choice but to end Allura’s life too.” Allura gasps in horror, alerting Lotor of her presence. 

 

“Let her go! Please! She had nothing to do with any of my experiments! She’s innocent!” Allura’s eyes widen, as do James and Lance’s (who are still kneeling on the floor, unable to move properly). 

 

“Oh, I disagree. She knew what you were doing and didn’t stop you. That makes her equally guilty.” Allura starts to silently cry as Lotor admits his crimes to her and to her friends. 

 

“The family I have isn’t dead, I assure you! I’ve only had them for two days and you know I usually wait for a week! I promise, they still live!” Shiro grunts in understanding before glaring at Allura and clutching Keith close to him. 

 

“In that case, bring them to the hospital and leave them there. Then, come to Altea Corp. to collect Allura. I’ll have Pidge monitoring your activity through your phone. If they lose signal of you, then I’m just going to assume that you killed and dumped the bodies. That make sense?” 

 

“Yes! I understand, I understand! I won’t do anything stupid, I promise! Just please, let the love of my life go!” Shiro promises Lotor before suggesting that the doctor take the stairs and hanging up and standing up, bringing Keith with him. 

 

“Pidge, Keith, come on…..let’s round up everyone in the hallway and put them in rooms. Keep Allura out, but restrain her. We need to do this quickly so Pidge can get to monitoring Lotor.” Pidge and Keith nod. Keith lets go of Shiro to start grabbing officers while Pidge accepts Allura’s phone and traces Lotor through his number. 

 

It doesn’t take long before most of the cells hold at least two officers. Lance and Hunk are in one, Iverson and James are in another, while Coran shares one with a random officer. By now, those who were unconscious slowly start to regain consciousness. Meanwhile, Lance and James look at Allura with sad eyes. 

 

“Allura, I’m sorry.” Allura cries from her spot on the floor as James and Lance continually apologize to her. 

 

“How could he?! I trusted him! How could he betray my trust like that?!” Iverson looks at Allura with a pitiful glance before looking at Shiro, Keith, and Pidge. 

 

While Shiro and Pidge are distracted by tracking Lotor’s movements, Keith’s got his sharp eyes trained on everyone in the cells. 

 

“Please, young one, for pity’s sake, give Allura some sympathy! It was just confirmed by Lotor himself that none of us were involved in his acts! You have no reason to detain us!” Shiro looks up to glare at Iverson, but Keith holds his hand up to keep the older from talking. It’s his time to speak. 

 

“You can’t be trusted. As for Allura, she’s only sad about Lotor betraying her trust. She expresses no sympathy for the other families he betrayed by pretending to be their doctor and wanting to help them. And neither do any of her friends. Why should we give her sympathy when she herself can only be self-centered?” Iverson looks down for a moment before sighing and silencing himself. 

 

Lance though? Lance has something to say against that. 

 

“How dare you! Allura is one of the most selfless people I’ve ever met! How’d you feel if the love of your life turned out to be a serial killer? You’d feel betrayed and angry too!” Keith’s face is void of emotion, but on the inside, he’s panicking. 

 

“I know she feel sympathy for the families that he betrayed, but right now, the pain of being betrayed herself is fresh and forward in her mind. She’s only human! Unlike you, who’s just as much of a monster as Lotor!” Keith tenses, but doesn’t allow the pain to show. 

 

“Lance!” Pidge and Shiro look up in shock as Hunk smacks the back of his friend’s head. 

 

“What the hell Hunk?!” Lance’s eyes show just how betrayed he now too feels. 

 

“This is exactly why none of them trusted us in the first place! They’ve been working their asses off to try and stop Lotor from taking other families and what do they get in return? Looks of pity and people telling them that they need to spend the rest of their lives in mental wards!” Lance backs up a bit as Hunk allows himself to be angry. 

 

“A lot of people trusted Lotor, so Keith’s right, Allura isn’t the only one who has a right to be upset! And you know what they’re also right in? How incompetent we all were. We were so convinced that Lotor was innocent just because he was Allura’s boyfriend that we missed all of the clues presented to us and the evidence that was placed right in front of our faces!” Allura turns her teary eyes to Hunk, who’s panting and glaring at Lance. 

 

“You’re my best friend, Lance, but I won’t allow you to hurt other people just because they disagree with you.” Lance glances from Keith to Hunk before biting his lip and bringing a hand up to wipe at his face. 

 

“You’re right.” Keith bites his bottom lip and turns away from the scene. It was rude from the start to stare at them, might as stop now. 

 

“Keith, wait.” Keith takes a breath and nods his head, but doesn’t turn around. Hunk supposes that’s reasonable. 

 

“I’m sorry that I didn’t step up and listen to any of you. You all tried to warn the police of Lotor’s involvement, but our biases clouded the way we saw your warnings. I feel awful, knowing that I could’ve stopped all of those families from being killed if I had just stopped and listened.” Keith nods his head, saying nothing after that. 

 

“And Shiro? I’m sorry about the accusations that I made against you. It wasn’t right for me to say.” Shiro narrows his eyes and hugs Pidge and Keith to him. 

 

“Noted, but I don’t have a desire to trust or forgive you anytime soon.” Hunk nods and goes to speak to Pidge, only to get a gun pointed at him. Ok, strong way of saying ‘don’t even’, very clear to Hunk. 

 

“I just want you to know that I’m sorry for hurting the people you care about most.” Pidge glares at Hunk and scoffs, obviously not convinced. They do lower their gun though, so that’s a good sign. 

 

“So…..what now?” Keith stays by Shiro’s side as the older one explains the plan. 

 

“Well, Pidge is monitoring Lotor’s movement right now and making sure he doesn’t pull a fast one. When he arrives, like I told him to, then I’m going to give Allura to him.” Before Shiro can say anything more, Allura interrupts him angrily. 

 

“I will kill him!” Shiro raises a brow at the women. 

 

“That’s a big change. What happened to ‘my love would never do these awful things and you’re just bitter because your families were killed?’ Cause those words are still pretty fresh in my mind.” Pidge’s eyes snap towards Allura. 

 

“You said what?!” Pidge thrusts their phone towards Keith before stomping forward. At first, Keith’s worried. But when Shiro tells him to just trust Pidge, he calms slightly. 

 

“You close-minded, idiotic, homicide supporting daughter of a-!” And Shiro stops them there. 

 

“To be fair, she was right about us being bitter. Give her points for that.” Pidge’s eye twitches before they sigh and cross their arms, shaking their head. 

 

“Yeah, yeah, I suppose that’s true.” Allura gulps and looks up at Pidge. 

 

“I’m so sorry, Pidge. For everything. For accusing you all of lying, for being so foolish, so insensitive….” Pidge doesn’t glare, only tilts their head as Allura cries again. 

 

“Is there any way we could prove that we want to help you?” Pidge turns to look at the person who spoke: James. 

 

“Yeah, you could stay out of our way.” James raise an eyebrow and crosses his arms. 

 

“Staying out of the way defeats the point of wanting to help you, don’t you think?” Pidge, no longer in a bad move, saunters over to the guy. 

 

“No, I don’t. You see, by letting us handle it, you’re helping by not making things anymore difficult or violent than they need to be.” The playful smirk that Pidge sends James almost makes him smile. 

 

“Guys, Lotor’s on his way here.” Pidge whips around and jogs back to Shiro and Keith. 

 

“Alright, be prepared.” Pidge and Keith nod, Keith handing Pidge their phone back. 

 

“Shiro, take these. They’re not much for protection, but they will supply you with useful weapons.” Shiro nods and puts the bracelets on, following Pidge’s instructions on activating them. 

 

“Wow, cool.” Pidge nods while everyone else gasps in amazement. 

 

“If you clench your knuckles and pound your fusts together, then your weapons come out.” Shiro nods and does just that, smiling when his hands are enveloped in black gauntlets that have spikes on the end. 

 

“Nice choice. Am I safe to say that if you have an electro gun, Keith has blades?” Keith pouts at Shiro’s teasing tone while Pidge nods with a ‘duh’ look on their face.

 

“Your mind is truly impressive, Pidge. I’m so sorry that the way you gained your intelligence was so horrifying.” Pidge makes eye contact with Iverson before shrugging. 

 

“No reason to dwell on the past when it’s about to be resolved in a few seconds.” Hunk and Lance both make sounds of curiosity, attract everyone’s attention. 

 

“How is what you’re doing ending it? Aren’t you just going to give Allura to him?” Shiro rolls his eyes before facepalming. Right, they don’t know. 

 

“No, the plan’s changed. We’re going to give Allura to him, or make him think that we are. As soon as he steps inside, Keith will guard the stair door and make sure Lotor doesn’t have an escape route. Meanwhile, Pidge’ll guard Allura and I’ll fight Lotor. His life ends today.” Everyone, besides Keith and Pidge, gasps. 

 

“Wait, aren’t you breaking your end of the deal then?” Keith raises an eyebrow. 

 

“So, you want us to hand Allura over and let Lotor live?” Lance shakes his head rapidly. 

 

“No! Of course not! I just….well, I-” Keith holds up a hand while Shiro explains. 

 

“Originally, we were going to keep our promise: let Lotor have Allura as long as he returns the family to the hospital alive, then send clues to the police that he was the murderer and wait for them to catch him. However, he made a grave mistake.” Shiro’s sentence ends in a growl. 

 

“He brought the family back to the hospital, but he didn’t bring them back alive.” Allura gasps as Pidge updates everyone on what’s happening. 

 

“We’ll make it seem like he can have you, when in reality, we’ll be taking him down today.” Shiro’s voice holds promise. No anger or malice, just determination. 

 

“He will never harm another innocent family ever again. Even if I have to die in making sure.” Keith and Pidge share his declaration. 


	10. Taking Lotor Down, Once and for All

Shiro and Pidge stand by Allura , who’s no longer cuffed, while Keith lays hidden by the door. As soon as Lotor steps in and goes to retrieve Allura, Keith will shut and lock the door. 

 

“He’s coming up the steps right now.” Pidge glances at their phone before making eye contact with Shiro, who’s staring at the door. He brings a hand up to rub at his helmet before breathing out and nodding. It’s really ending today. 

 

“Here he comes.” Footsteps are heard before the door opens suddenly and Lotor speed walks in. 

 

“How nice of you to join us, Lotor.” Lotor pays Shiro no mind, only looks at Allura, who’s glaring at the ground. 

 

“Allura, please, look at me.” Allura doesn’t, but Lotor continues talking anyway. “This isn’t how I wanted you to find out. I promise you, my love, I did it to try and save people.” Allura snaps at that. 

 

“Save people? By murdering parents and injecting children with chemicals?!” Lotor flinches and slowly approaches, not hearing the door shut behind him and lock. 

 

“My love, please, I did this so that no one would suffer like you! After Alfor died, you were a wreck! I did this so that I could make humanity perfect, so that a simple disease couldn’t kill anyone! Only a natural death could.” Allura growls and goes to stand up, but is stopped by Pidge.

 

“You’re lying! You’ve been experimenting months before you met me! Shiro, Pidge, and Keith are proof of that!” Keith’s eyes widen, as do Shiro and Pidge’s. Everyone else only looks at Lotor with disgust and malice. 

 

“You may have ended up finding different motivations for your experiments, but your original reasons were pure selfishness!” Lotor breathes out slowly before shaking his head. 

 

“I was hoping I wouldn’t have to do this……” Shiro and Pidge glance at each other as Lotor grabs for something behind him. “....but you’ve left me no choice, my dear.” 

 

Keith, seeing what Lotor’s grabbing, freezes and activates his blades. “Guys, look out!” Loor quickly turns and throws a small metal ball fo Keith. 

 

“Keith!” Pidge rushes forward, but Lotor’s ready. He side steps and turns to face Pidge, tossing another small metal ball at them and smirking when it bounces off their body and releases a green powder. 

 

“What the fuck-?!” Pidge’s cut off when the powder begins to take effect. At first, they feel drowsy and unable to stay focused, but after a few more moments, they lose consciousness. 

 

“No!” Shiro and Keith rush forward, only for Lotor to pull out a gun and point it to Pidge’s head. 

 

“Ah, ah, ah, not so fast.” Both boys stop and glare at Lotor, weapons pointed at the madman. 

 

“Let them go, Lotor. As promised, we’re giving you Allura.” Lotor narrows his eyes at Shiro. 

 

“I know none of you are stupid, so don’t try and lie to me. I know you figured out I lied as soon as I left the bodies in the hospital. So, of course, since I broke my side of the deal, you weren't going to hold up your end.” Shiro grinds his teeth together. Damn it. They’d been caught. 

 

“And while getting Allura back definitely sounds appealing, it’s obvious that she could never love me anymore.” Lotor glares at his ex-girlfriend, causing her to glare back. 

 

“I would never love a monster like you.” Lotor hisses then smirks. 

 

“I know that my dear. Which is why I won’t be taking you back with me. Rather, I’ll be taking my children back.” Shiro and Keith look to each other in confusion while everyone else looks to each other in horror. 

 

“What do you-?”

 

“Shiro, Keith, let us out!” Still keeping his eyes on Lotor, Shiro asks why. 

 

“Shiro, he doesn’t care about me anymore! Now, all he wants is you, Keith, and Pidge!” Shiro’s eyes narrow, as do Keith’s. 

 

“Well, it’s obvious that he can’t have us. Even if you manage to drag us back to your lab, we’ll never obey you. Nothing made us before and nothing will ever make us.” Lotor scowls, but only for a moment before smiling. 

 

“We shall see, my child, we shall see.” Shiro thinks about all of the possible ideas Lotor could be coming up with. There’s a lot. He’s so deep in thought that he almost doesn’t dodge the metal ball thrown at him. 

 

“Shiro!” Keith rushes forward, blades out and ready. He jumps up and flips, kicking off the ceiling before straightening his arms and spinning, like a human drill. 

 

“Woah!” Allura backs up and covers her eyes as Lotor jumps away from Pidge to avoid getting hit. 

 

“Brilliant! My child, you are brilliant!” Keith, only a bit dizzy from that maneuver, looks back at Lotor with malice in his eyes. 

 

“I’m not your child!” Keith picks Pidge up and jumps away as Shiro tries to hit Lotor’s back. Unfortunately, he doesn’t succeed, Lotor’s faster. Not that that stops him from continuing to try. 

 

“Keith, over here!” Ignoring the battle between Shiro and Lotor, Keith looks towards James and Iverson. 

 

“Put Pidge in here! Lotor can’t get to them.” Keith considers it for a moment before remembering that he shouldn’t trust them and shakes his head. 

 

“No.” With that, he places Pidge near the door to the staircase and stands guard in front of them, blocking out all of the begs and pleads for him to just get into one of the goddamn rooms where he’ll be safe!

 

“I made you so you could sustain the least amount of damage possible, not so that you were invincible!” Keith raises a brow as Lotor shouts at Shiro. Wasn’t he made to be the resilient one?

 

“What? But I thought-!” Allura shushes Hunk and Lance before looking to Keith, mouthing a secret message to him. 

 

“Lotor forgot which of you is truly resilient.” Keith, understanding what she’s saying, nods and yells at Shiro. 

 

“Shiro! Hold him still so I can punch him through the wall!” Shiro sends Keith a confused look before realization dawns and he nods. 

 

“Got it!” Lotor growls as Shiro tries to grab him and ducks under the oldest out of the three. 

 

“No you don’t!” Lotor shoots towards Keith and grabs his arm, pulling him against his body and pointing a gun against his hood. 

 

“Another movement and I’ll shoot him!” Shiro freezes and pretends to look scared/angry, when on the inside, he’s laughing at Lotor’s forgetfulness. 

 

“No, you can’t! You said you needed us!” Lotor smirks and pushes the gun harder against Keith's head, who’s smiling at Shiro. 

 

“True. I won’t kill him, but I will most certainly hurt him!” Shiro looks at Keith and receives a wink, prompting him to challenge Lotor. 

 

“No you won’t. If you shoot him and he squirms, you risk killing him.” Lotor gives Shiro a bored look. 

 

“I wouldn’t make a mistake as stupid as that.” Shiro waits until Keith nods at him before smirking at Lotor. 

 

“No, the mistake you made is one of the most stupid you could ever make in our lifetime.” Lotor raises an eyebrow before gasping. 

 

“You forgot Keith’s hidden blades.” Lotor chokes and pulls the trigger, smirking for a moment before frowning when Keith doesn’t start bleeding. 

 

Keith stands up and rubs the side of his head. The gunshot was loud and right next to his ear, so safe to assume that there’s still a bit of ringing. 

 

“And you also mixed us up. Keith was the one who was trained to be resilient, I was trained to be the strongest.” Lotor hisses when he drops his gun, not having enough strength to hold it any longer. 

 

“You….will all…..ugh…..all pay for…...argh….this!” Lotor glares at Shiro, who glares right back. 

 

“Maybe, but at least we’ll pay knowing that you can’t hurt any innocent families anymore.” Lotor growls one last time before his eyes roll to the back of his head and he slumps back, now lifeless. 

 

“Oh god…..” Shiro pulls Keith close to him, Allura being the one to whisper. 

 

“Oh my god….” Shiro ignores the continued whisperings as he walks Keith and himself over to the still unconscious Pidge. He releases Keith and squats down, shaking his head and sighing as Keith cradles their youngest sibling to his chest. 

 

“They’ve still got a pulse, Shiro. They’re ok.” Shiro nods and stands up, followed by Keith, who’s carrying Pidge bridal style. 

 

“It’s over.” Allura, still covering her mouth in shock, looks up at Shiro with wide eyes. 

 

“I suppose, that as soon as we release you, you’ll arrest us?” Shiro stands protectively in front of Keith and Pidge. 

 

“What?! No!” Allura stands up and walks to Lotor’s body, kicking it for good measure before walking towards Shiro.  

 

“You three proved that Lotor was the one murdering thousands and made sure that he cannot hurt again.” Shiro narrows his eyes. 

 

“That may be true, but I assaulted three people, my siblings beat up an entire squad of officers, and then we held you hostage before Lotor actually admitted his deeds. I have a hard time believing that we won’t get arrested for at least one of those.” Allura looks towards Iverson for assistance, then looks back at Shiro. 

 

“I suppose you will have to make up for that, yes, but arresting you doesn’t have to be the case.” Shiro tilts his head, eyes still narrowed, before turning slightly when Pidge groans. Apparently, Lotor’s powder wasn’t strong enough to keep them unconscious for long. 

 

“What-what’s going on?” Keith kneels down and gently places Pidge on the floor, cradling their upper body to his as a form of comfort. 

 

“We did it, Pidge. We killed Lotor. He won’t harm anyone else anymore.” Pidge takes a few moments to process Keith’s words before their eyes widen and they start shouting. 

 

“Are you serious?! Awesome! We finally did it!” Pidge wraps their arms around Keith’s nek, squeezing in a tight hug. Keith, not bothered by it since he’s used to tight hugs, chuckles and stands up, spinning Pidge around. 

 

“Yes we did Pidge, yes we did.” Keith holds Pidge in a hug for a few seconds before setting them down and letting them go hug Shiro. While they have their little celebration (Shiro picking Pidge up and throwing them lightly into the air before catching them), he watches Allura. 

 

“Wait, now what? Are we going to get arrested or something?” By now, Allura’s accepted Pidge’s large amount of mistrust in her. So in response, she merely shakes her head, no sigh of frustration or glare. 

 

“Certainly not. You brought a sick criminal to justice.” Pidge sends her an unamused look. “Look, I’m not saying your methods were favorable, but in the end, you did what needed to be done to take Lotor down. Besides, you never hurt any of the general public, only us, and that’s because we attacked you first.”

 

Pidge shares a look with Keith before they both look to Shiro for guidance. 

 

“So…..do we just go back to our normal lives and try to forget that this ever happened?” Allura opens her mouth to respond before thinking for a moment and closing it. How does she answer that? Can she answer that? 

 

“I’ve got an idea.” Everyone’s attention turns to Lance, who’s siling encouragingly at the Shiro and his siblings. 

 

“You can totally say no if you’d like, but wouldn’t it be cool if you three started working here?” Shiro’s eyes widen as he looks down at Pidge and Keith. Keith’s raising an eyebrow with a cautious expression while Pidge is crossing their arms and cocking out their hips. 

 

“So, basically, in order to pay for the damage done here today,we have to work here for a selected amount of time?” Lance, who has not accepted Pidge’s mistrust in him (unlike Allura) frowns and shakes his head. 

 

“Does everything have to a condition to you? Can’t you just see this as a job opportunity?” Pidge’s eyes widen at that. 

 

“Why would you be offering the people who kicked your ass a job? Working with you, no less.” Lance blushes at Pidge’s comment about kicking his ass before shrugging. 

 

“I mean, you’ve all shown your true capabilities and let me tell you, they’re fucking amazing!” Pidge, still confused as to why this offer is on the table, asks for someone to explain what the hell Lance is thinking. 

 

Coran decides to be the one to do that: “What Lance means is, you guys could probably help a lot in medicines, technology, and security. You’re all very capable individuals and it’d be amazing to work with you to help improve society. By using morally good methods, obviously.” 

 

Pidge and Keith once again look to Shiro, who’s biting his bottom lip and thinking. Ever since they escaped Lotor, they’d been looking for ways to get rid of him to protect the general public. Now they’re being offered to help make it safer and create new things that’ll improve society. It’s a tempting offer, but he needs to think about Pidge and Keith. 

 

“Tempting, but I doubt you’d want to work with people who barely trust you.” Lance’s expression turns from hopeful to sad in a matter of seconds, something that doesn't sit well with Keith. He doesn’t know why, but his impulsiveness gives him enough motivation to offer a compromise. 

 

“That's the thing though Shiro, we can’t trust them and it’s clear that the public shouldn’t either. Lotor ran free for years because they were bias and a bit corrupted. So, why not make sure that this never happens again by working with them? Or at least, continuing to monitor their activity?” Pidge smiles up a Keith, proud at him for his reasonings. 

 

“He’s right Shiro.” Shiro, amused at the sight of his siblings ganging up on him, relents and nods. 

 

“Very well. If you guys really think you can handle us, then we’ll try to get along.” Lance’s smile returns. As or everyone else, there is a fair balance of smiles and hesitant looks. 

 

“I hope that one day, we can make up for this day and earn your trust. All of us.” Shiro looks to Iverson and, with a stern face, nods his head. 

 

“Like said before, it won’t be easy. Lotor murdered thousands because of your bias and refusal to be open minded. However, I don’t expect it to be easy for you to trust us either, so we’re even.” Iverson nods, interested in the change from protective older brother to mature decision maker. 


	11. Everybody Needs a Doctor

Shiro, Pidge, and Keith start moving from door to door to let people out. Once everyone’s out of the room, Pidge takes out their phone, intedning to call for an ambulance, only for Allura to rest a hand on their shoulder. How Pidge didn’t turn around and growl at Allura is anyone’s guess. 

 

“I think I speak for a majority of us when I say that maybe you and your brothers should tend to our medical needs. I’d really hate to have to explain to another doctor how I received some of these injuries. At least for now, until we have a plan or how we’re going to expose Lotor.” Pidge looks hesitant, but nods since Allura seems sincere. 

 

“Well, it shouldn’t happen here. Does this building have a medical ward or something?” Allura nods. 

 

“Yes, it is on the second floor. However, getting there might be a bit….difficult.” Allura winces as she scans the room and takes not on how many officers can’t even stand, let alone walk down stairs (some are still unconscious). 

 

“Here, let’s do this then….” Shiro walks over to Coran and a couple officer before scooping them up. “Pidge, head down with Allura to the second floor and prepare whatever you need to. Keith, assist those who can still walk down the stairs. I’ll carry those who can’t.” 

 

Pidge and Keith nod. Pidge stands up and offers a hand to Allura before following the older women down the stairs and to the medical ward. Since Hunk, Lance, and James are the only ones who can walk (with support, of course), he chooses Hunk to go down first. 

 

“Alright, let’s go.” Keith nods at Shiro before pulling one of Hunks arms over his shoulders and steadying the bigger man as they journey down the steps. The only problem that Shiro encounters is trying to balance the two officers in his arm as he travels down. 

 

Though, luckily, it’s a problem easily fixed, so no one gets dropped. Since Shiro’s physically carrying multiple people, his trips are a bit faster compared to Keith, who’s steadying people and patiently going down flights of stairs. 

 

“Keith, all that’s left is Lance, right?” After Keith deposits James onto a medical ebd, he nods at Shiro. 

 

“Alright, I’m going to see if I can help Allura and Pidge here, in case people need to be moved. Think you’ll be ok or are you tired?” Keith shakes his head and smiles, assuring Shiro that he’ll be fine. 

 

“Alright. Call me if that changes, ok?” Keith once again nods before travelling back to the third floor to retrieve the last person. 

 

“My turn?” Keith nods and squats down to grab Lance’s arm so he can pull it over his shoulder. 

 

“Any chance I could just get a piggyback?” Keith tilts his head, considering it. It might be easier than struggling down stairs (and less painful for Lance), but Lance is bigger than him, he could accidently drop him or something. 

 

“What if I drop you by accident?” Lance covers one of Keith’s hands with his own. 

 

“I’d forgive you. Besides, after all I’ve seen and felt today, I’d say you’re quite powerful.” Keith blushes at the compliment and the contact before sighing and helping Lance stand up. 

 

“Here, see if you can jump on.” Lance steadies himself against the wall as Keith turns his back towards him and squats down. It takes some work, but eventually, Lance manages to hop on. 

 

“See? You’re not going to drop me.” Keith adjusts Lance in a secure hold before walking out the door and down the stairs. 

 

“Don’t jinx it.” Lance hums in an amused manner before resting his chin on Keith’s shoulder. 

 

“Hey Keith? I didn’t apologize for earlier. You’re not a monster, far from it.” Keith continues to walk, but his pace slows a bit. 

 

“It’s fine. I attacked your friend, so naturally, you’d want to defend her. It’s of no surprise to me.” Lance frowns, turning his head a bit to nuzzle at Keith’s neck. 

 

“It’s not fine. We were all blind, like Pidge and Shiro said. You were all scared.” Keith keeps his face neutral, even though Lance can only see one side of his face. 

 

“Like, I said, it’s in the past. Lotor’s gone and everyone’s safe again.” Lance sighs at Keith’s stubbornness before hugging Keith’s neck. 

 

“We all have you, Shiro, and Pidge to thank for that.” Keith faces the stairs so Lance can’t see the blush across his face. 

 

“It was our duty.” Lace chuckles at that before nuzzling the back of Keith’s neck. 

 

“You know, out of the three of you, you interested me the most.” Keith’s head snaps up at that, eyes wide. 

 

“What? Why?” Lance, sensing the genuine curiosity and confusion (as opposed to the blank, emotionless tone used before) smiles. Even though Keith can’t see him. 

 

“Shiro and Pidge made their anger and distrust very known. Understandable, since my friends and I weren’t exactly the most open minded at the time. But you? You were more subtle and you actually wanted to listen to Allura when she said that we weren’t involved with Lotor.” Keith bites the inside of his cheek, sniffing a bit when he’s reminded of a conversation he’s had with Pidge and Shiro many times.

 

“Keith, are you ok? I’m sorry if what I said made you upset.” The concerin, not pity but concern, in Lance’s tone almost makes Keith want to trust him. He resists though. 

 

“I’m fine.” Lance doesn’t believe him, but keeps quiet so Keith can explain. “Shiro’s the oldest, so he feels responsible and protective over Pidge and I since we’re younger. Pidge’s the youngest, so they feel defensive and untrusting when it comes to meeting new people because we’re like their older brothers. Me though? I’m the one in the middle. At first, I thought this meant that I had no place.” 

 

Lance processes what Keith’s trying to get at. 

 

“Then I really thought about it and, with Shiro’s and Pidge’s help of course, I realized I helped keep the balance. It’s easier for me to stay neutral because Shiro’s always ready to defend and Pidge’s always ready to attack. Do you get what I’m saying?” Lance takes a few moments before nodding. 

 

“Yeah, that makes sense.” Keith hums, glad that Lance understands. 

 

“But rest assured, I’m not afraid to defend or attack should any threat be aimed towards Shiro and Pidge.” Lance gulps at the deadly tone Keith uses. Oh yeah, he’s definitely an assassin. 

 

“Think we all learned that you and Pidge stormed in here.” Keith scoffs at that. They didn’t storm, they snuck in. There’s a difference. 

 

“Glad to hear. I’d be genuinely sad if I needed to demonstrate how serious I am.” Lance laughs nervously, assuring Keith that no demonstration would be necessary. 

 

“You’re cute, you know that?” Keith chokes a bit on his own breath, but doesn’t say anything since he’s about to enter the medical ward. 

 

“Keith! Lance! Just on time.” Keith giggles at Pidge’s comment. SOmething that Lance finds fucking adorable. 

 

“I was being timed?” Pidge rolls their eyes before leading Keith to the bed that they dubbed as Lances. 

 

“You get what I mean. Alright, let’s see what the damage is.” Keith steps back as Pidge begins their examination, blushing bright red when Lance winks at him. 

 

Shiro and Keith wrap bandages and grab ice as Pidge examines everyone. As it turns out, the only bones that ended up broken was Coran’s nose and one of the officers wrist. Other than that, majority of the injuries were bruises, cuts, and some sprains. 

 

“Aaaaaaand done! Alright, everyone should be good now.” Iverson and Allura thank Pidge before calling Shiro over. 

 

“Sir, we must discuss our plan. If we tell the whole truth, then that could get you in some unneeded trouble.” Shiro nods and gestures for Pidge and Keith to rest on ne of the beds as he talks with Allura and Iverson. 

 

“I personally don’t mind. However, I worry for Keith and Pidge, as you can imagine, a lot of attention from strangers could cause some problems.” Allura and Iverson nod as Shiro clears his throat and offers a small smile. 

 

“Also, you guys can just call me Shiro. Saying Shirogane gets a bit…..tedious after a while.” Allura smiles in triumph, one step closer to earning Shiro’s trust. A small step, but a step nonetheless. 

 

“Thank you, Shiro. I’ve got a few ideas for how we could cover some of this up....” Shiro nods and listens with interest as Allura explains, using her hands to emphasize certain ideas. 

 

Meanwhile, Keith gets Pidge some water from the water dispenser and sits with them. 

 

“It’s still so hard to believe all of this.” Keith hums as Pidge takes a sip from their cup, still processing the day’s events. 

 

“Indeed.” Pidge hands the cup over to Keith so he can drink a bit as well before looking around, snickering when their eyes land on Lance. 

 

“He’s staring at you.” Keith almost chokes on his water, but manages to save himself. 

 

“Excuse me?” Pidge gestures with their head at Lance, who’s now speaking with Hunk and James. 

 

“Lance. He was staring at you when I glanced at him. Did something happen between your two while Shiro and I were working down here?” Keith blushes and looks down, answering the question non-verbally. 

 

“Well, what was it? Did he apologize about his comment earlier? Did he ask about our pasts?” Keith shrugs. 

 

“He did apologize, yes. He also…..well, he also said that I interest him and that I was cute.” Pidge nods slowly before their eyes widen. 

 

“Really?! He said that?!” Keith nods at Pidge, thankful that they’re aware enough to whisper and not yell like he knows they want to. 

 

“What’d you say in response?” Keith looks over at Lance before immediately looking down when he sees Lance smiling at him. 

 

“Nothing. We were about to enter the room when he said I was cute.” Pidge nods and pats Keith’s shoulder.

 

“I could be wrong, but I think he likes you. I mean, you don’t just say that someone interests you and that they’re cute for no reason.” Keith blushes heavily before throwing an incredulous look at Pidge. 

 

“Why would he like someone like me?” Pidge rolls their eyes. 

 

“Why wouldn’t he? You’re caring, brave, protective, loyal, lovable, cuddly, and empathetic. Any sane person would be honored to have you as their respective partner.” Keith looks down. He doesn’t see himself as those things, but he won’t argue with Pidge. He knows how that’ll end. 

 

“I’m serious dude. There’s no reason he wouldn’t like you. Well, if you disregard the fact that you scared him, threatened him, and beat the shit out of him.” Keith playfully glares at Pidge, who starts chuckling. 

 

“If he really wants to earn our trust, then he will have looked past that. Calm down Keith.” Keith sighs and nods before tensing when someone clears their voice behind Pidge. He would’ve grabbed them to shield them if his eyes didn’t catch Lance’s form as quick as they did. 

 

“Hey Pidge, is it ok if I speak with Keith for a moment?” Pidge sends Keith a small smirk before narrowing their eyes at Lance. 

 

“You’ve got five minutes.” Lance nods and sits in Pige’s spot when they get up. 

 

“I’ll be checking on Coran’s broken nose if you need me, Keith.” Keith wishes Pidge luck before facing Lance. 

 

“Yes?” Lance takes a deep breath before grabbing keith’s hands and rubbing the knuckles. 

 

“Keith, would you be willing to go out with me?” Keith stares at Lance before allowing the panic to take over. 

 

“What?! Wh-why would you-?! Why?!” Lance scoots back a bit at Keith’s outburst before bringing a hand up to stroke Keith’s cheek. 

 

“Keith, Keith! Breath, come on dude, breath.” Keith looks down and shuts his eyes, ignoring everything around him as he calms himself.

 

When he opens his eyes, Lance’s staring at him with a worried impression while Allura and Iverson are holding Shiro back. Pidge’s just glaring at Lance. At least no ones attacked anyone. 

 

“Keith?” Keith clears his throat before looking behind lance at Shiro and Pidge. 

 

“It’s ok guys. He just caught me by surprise.” It takes a few minutes until Shiro focuses back on his conversation with Iverson and Allura. Pidge just keeps staring at the two until Coran calls their attention towards him. 

 

“Ok, again, why?” Lance bites the inside of his cheek. 

 

“Why not? You’re cute, protective, open minded, physically and emotionally strong, caring, lovely, shall I go on?” Keith blushes ay Lance’s smirk before sighing and looking down, shaking his head. 

 

“I’m none of those things.” He looks up and starts to tear up a bit. “Lance, I’m a traumatized, mutated, emotionally unstable, dangerous, freakish individual. Not to mention that I have the two most powerful living siblings in the world right now who could probably get away with murdering you if you piss them off enough.” 

 

Lance shakes his head in denial. 

 

“That’s not true. Ok, scratch that, that last sentence is true. However, everything else isn’t.” Lance takes Keith’s face in his hands, cradling it gently. 

 

“You’re a lovely person who’s traumatized, yes, but on his way to healing. You’re not freakish or a mutant just because of Lotor’s experiments, you just….I don’t know how to explain it, but you’re still human. You’re still Keith.” Tears start to fall from Keith’s eyes, which Lance promptly brushes away. 

 

“And you being emotional is great, it shows that you care. You’re only dangerous to those who hurt innocent people, kind of like the police. Though they’re nothing compared to you.” Keith giggles a bit at the flattery before focusing on Lance’s face again. 

 

“So, I ask again: Keith Kogane, world’s loveliest and deadliest warrior, will you go out with me?” Keith thinks for a few moments before nodding. 


	12. Epilogue

“Keith! Allura and the others are going to be here soon!” Keith sighs and stands up, turning a few times to look over the outfit he picked for tonight. 

 

“I guess this works.” Keith mumbles before walking out to the living room, where Shiro and Pidge are waiting for him. 

 

“Cute. You’re totally going to make Lance drool.” Keith playfully glares at Pidge, who gets flicked by Shiro. 

 

“Give him mercy for now. I won’t be able to stop you at dinner.” Pidge cackles evilly before standing up and hugging Keith. 

 

“You know I’d shoot Lance if he said anything too sexual.” Keith smiles and nods, hugging Pige back before looking towards the dining room. 

 

“Is everything ready?” Shiro nods and checks his watch. 

 

“They should be here any minute now.” Keith and Pidge walk to the kitchen to prepare some water glasses and finish just as a knock is heard. 

 

“I’ll get it you two.” Shiro opens the door, revelang a lovely, but still casually dressed Allura. Behind her are Coran, Lance, Hunk, James, and Iverson. 

 

“Thank you for having us tonight, Shiro.” Shiro nods and smiles politely, offering everyone a firm handshake on their way in.

 

“Wow! Guys, look at all of this food! There’s so much!” Shiro chuckles at Hunk’s amazement. 

 

On the outline of the oval table is a row of beautifully painted plates, forks, spoons, and knives arranged beside them. In the center and corners of the table are different food dishes. As a main dish, there’s a large container of broccoli mixed with beef and a large bowl of rice. For the vegetable/fruit, there’s a couple bowl of apple slices or orange slices and a couple bowls of carrots and snap peas. Nd for dester, Keith’s prepared a special lava cake and some homemade ice cream, cause why not. 

 

“Keith made our sustenance tonight. He’s as good with food as he is with weapons.” Hunk looks like he has stars in his eyes as Pidge exits the kitchen with a few glasses. 

 

“Which is saying something, cause I’m pretty confident Keith’s a weapons specialist. As for the dishes, those were mine. I had a phase where the art of pottery and glazing had a large appeal to me.” Pidge starts handing out water glasses, which everyone accepts with a thanks, while Keith directs everyone to their place at the table. 

 

“Please, sit.” Keith, being the gentleman that he is, pulls out everyone’s chair as he seats them. 

 

“Who would’ve figured that a someone as deadly as yourself would have better table manners than some of the officers at the station.” Keith shrugs at Iverson before sitting at his own seat. 

 

“Please, dig in.” Everyone puts their napkin on their laps before following Shiro’s instruction and grabbing for one of the food dishes. 

 

“Keith, I might hire you to make us all lunches as well as help with security at Altea Corp.” Keith blushes, but thanks Allura for her offer. 

 

“I agree. This definitely beats eating the cafeteria food or constantly going out to buy lunch.” Shiro watches the exchange with a small smile before clearing his throat, attract everyone’s attention. 

 

“My siblings and I would like to thank all of you for not arresting us after taking Lotor down.” A chorus of ‘don’t thank us’ or ‘no problem’ is heard before Allura grabs Shiro’s hand from where she’s sitting beside him. 

 

“Everyone in the city and we ourselves need to thank you for exposing Lotor for who he really was. And giving us a chance, despite our first impressions.” Shiro, Keith, and Pidge chuckle and a blush of embarrassment covers everyone elses face. 

 

“We’re mostly over that.” Pidge declares before stoving a spoonful of rice into their mouth. “Though, there is another matter that we should discuss. Shiro?” 

 

Shiro nods before looking at Lance: “I understand that you wish to date Keith?” Lance gulps. 

 

“Yes.” Shiro tilts his head before looking at Keith, sharing a silent conversation. 

 

“Neither Pidge or I will interfere, we’re actually glad that it’s you.” Lance does a double take.

 

“Huh?” Allura and Coran look at Shiro in shock while Hunk and James congratulate Lance quietly.  

 

“We’d prefer it was one of you as opposed to someone Keith met randomly at the academy.” Keith looks down shyly. He’s glad that that didn’t end up happening as well. 

 

“Besides, we don’t need to threaten you. You’ve got a sense of how we work already and have seen what we’re capable of.” Lance is only a bit comforted in the fact that Pidge didn’t bluntly state: ‘hurt our Keith and I’ll take you apart, slowly.’ No doubt that he wouldn’t get the mercy of simply being shot with their electro gun. 

 

“I’d offer to defend Lance, but I’d really appreciate not getting caught in the crossfire.” Keith giggles and smiles at Hunk. 

 

“Wise choice.” Shiro raises an eyebrow at James, who holds his hands up in a gesture of surrender. 

 

“It’s true.” Pidge snorts before continuing to eat. 

 

When everybody finishes, Keith, Pidge, Shiro, and Hunk clean up the dishes while everyone else remains seated. As Keith brings out the desert, eyes widen around the table. 

 

“Ummmmm, how big are the slices going to be?” Pidge pats James shoulder as Keith cuts out reasonably sized pieces of lava cake and puts a spoonful of vanilla ice cream on top. 

 

“Yeah, you’re definitely replacing some of the cooks ar Altea Corp.” A few hums and cheers of agreement are made in response to Allura’s comment. 

 

“Thanks again for having us, Shiro, Pidge, Keith.” Nods are thrown Coran’s way. 

 

“Good to have you guys.” Silence follows Shiro’s response as everyone devours their dessert. Clean up almost goes smoothly, but Lance can’t help himself.

 

“By the way, Keith, did I ever mention how cute you look tonight?” The kisses on placed on Keith's knuckles, Pidge decides, are innocent enough where they don’t have to step in. 

 

Surprisingly, Allura has something to say about Lance’s actions though. 

 

“Lance! At least thank Keith for the amazing meal before assaulting his poor hand with your lips!” Lace had the decency to look sheepish before thanking Keith for the meal and sweeping the boy off his feet. Where he then attacks Keith’s cheeks with kisses.

 

“Should we intervene?” Shiro shakes his head at Pidge. 

 

“Knowing Keith, he’s got a blade hidden in his sleeve if Lance goes too far.” Pidge chuckles, that sounds like Keith. 

 

“Keith wouldn't be triggered by Lance need for physical affection, would he?” Shiro and Pidge look at Hunk before looking at each other. 

 

“I don't think so.” Pidge turns back to see Keith trying his hardest not to laugh as Lance continues to kiss his cheeks silly. “I’d say he’s pretty touch-starved since Shiro and I are the only ones to hug and cuddle him.” 

 

Hunk nods his head before shouting at Lance. 

 

“Cuddle him to death, buddy.” Shiro clears his throat, causing Hunk to turn and see his and Pidge’s un-amused faces. 

 

“Nevermind, ignore me.” Pidge and Shiro relax a bit while Lance continues his kiss attack on Keith’s neck. 

 

In all honesty, he didn’t really pay attention to what Hunk said, He was too busy making sure Keith felt all of the love that Lance had for him. 


End file.
